DALLAS (AP) — Another playoff hat trick for a Finnish forward the Dallas Stars acquired in a trade during the regular season.
This time, it was a first for Mikael Granlund. Not yet another three-goal game for Mikko Rantanaen, though he did have one of the assists.
Granlund’s first career postseason hat trick accounted for all the goals for the Dallas Stars in their 3-1 win Tuesday night that put them up 3-1 in their second-round Western Conference series against the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets.
“When you pass all the time, you know, you’re gonna surprise the goalie maybe once in a while to shoot the puck,” Granlund said. “It’s good to shoot every once in a while.”
It certainly was for the Stars, with Granlund scoring in each period.
“He’s just super responsible, 200-foot player. I think he does more in our end than in the (offensive) zone, which obviously I love as a goalie. The shot blocks, the good sticks,” said Jake Oettinger, who had 31 saves for Dallas.
“I think when we focus on that and we take care of that, a guy like that, his skill takes over and I think he gets rewarded for playing good in our end … Not the most dynamic (scorer) you would think, and then all of a sudden it’s in the back of the net.”
Granlund got his first goal after skating down the middle over both blue lines, and a nifty move around Brandon Tanev near mid-ice, before snapping a 38-foot shot past Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 lead just 8 1/2 minutes into the game.
Rantanen upped his NHL-leading playoff total to 19 points (nine goals) with the primary assist on Granlund’s goal that broke a 1-1 tie with 2:08 left in the second period. Rantanen had consecutive hat tricks in these playoffs, in the 3-2 win to open this series at Winnipeg, after his three goals and an assist in the third period of their 4-2 win in Game 7 against Colorado to help knock out his former team in the first round.
After securing his hat trick, Granlund did a double fist pump from his knees, then popped up to his skates. His fourth goal in this postseason came on a power play with 12:37 left in the game.
The 33-year-old Granlund, in his 13th NHL season and with his fifth team, had scored multiple goals only one time in his previous 69 playoff games. That was in 2014 for Minnesota, which picked him ninth overall in the 2010 NHL draft.
The Stars got Granlund from San Jose along with defenseman Cody Ceci on Feb. 1. Rantanen was a deadline acquisition March 7 from Carolina, who had him for only 13 games after getting him from Colorado, the team Dallas beat in seven games in the first round.
“We were just talking in there … the Granlund-Ceci trade, both those guys, invaluable contributions. I thought Ceci was outstanding tonight for us. And Granny led the way,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “What (Granlund) does on the ice is one thing, but the guy oozes leadership. Our Finnish group there, he’s is kind of the elder statesman of that group.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
