Stars vs. Bruins: Mikko Rantanen's Overtime Hat Trick Ends Boston's Five-Game Winning Streak

Mikko Rantanen held the puck for what felt like a full commercial break. Down low on the left side, four-on-three in overtime, he dangled, waited, dangled some more, and then slipped a backhand past Jeremy Swayman on the glove side.

That goal, at 3:52 of overtime, completed a hat trick and gave the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Rantanen scored every Dallas goal, the Stars won their third straight, and the Bruins' five-game winning streak ended in the most Rantanen way possible.

Boston Spends Most of the Night in Control

For two periods and change, this was a very Boston kind of game. The Bruins struck at 2:09 of the first when Frederic Brunet whipped a cross-ice pass to Matthew Poitras, who one-timed it from the left circle for his fourth goal of the season.

Rantanen answered 2:50 into the second, cleaning up the rebound after Jason Robertson poked at a loose puck in front. Boston needed less than five minutes to restore the lead. Casey Mittelstadt emerged from behind the Dallas net and fed the crease, and James Hagens got just enough stick on it to lift the puck over Jake Oettinger's pad at 7:30. It was the third goal of the season for Hagens.

Then the Bruins went into lockdown mode. Boston held Dallas to two shots on goal in the entire third period, according to NHL.com, and finished with a 22-13 edge in blocked shots. Swayman barely had to move. The problem with holding a team to two shots is that one of them can still go in.

The Turning Point: A Blocked Shot Finds the Wrong Stick

With 6:22 left in regulation, Roope Hintz fired from in close, and Charlie McAvoy did exactly what a shot-blocking defenseman is supposed to do. The block worked, technically. The puck caromed off him and landed on Rantanen's stick in the right circle, and Rantanen snapped it to the near side to make it 2-2.

It was the cruelest kind of bounce for a team that had defended so well. Boston had done everything right on that sequence except control where the puck went next. Nikita Zadorov summed up the defensive effort fairly. "I thought we did a pretty good job overall defensively," he said.

Overtime: Swayman Steals, Then Rantanen Steals Back

Overtime was chaos in the best way. Swayman denied Wyatt Johnston twice on breakaways within a 10-second span, per the AP, a sequence that would have been the highlight on most nights.

Then Pavel Zacha went to the box for slashing Thomas Harley at 2:28, giving Dallas a four-on-three. That is a dangerous gift to hand a team with Rantanen, Robertson and Miro Heiskanen on the ice. Heiskanen found Rantanen down low, and the rest was a patience clinic.

"The last one he held on to for I think 60 seconds before he made his move," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "He made some plays tonight. He was all over it, and that's what those guys do."

Zadorov was gracious about it, and maybe a little punny. "Obviously on the power play in overtime, Mikko made an unbelievable play there. Just got to tip the hat."

Rantanen's Record Book Night

The numbers on Rantanen's evening are absurd. The AP noted it was his 11th career three-goal game but his first regular-season hat trick in a Dallas sweater; the Stars acquired him in a trade during 2024-25. By the AP's count, he is only the fourth Stars player to finish an overtime hat trick since the team relocated to Dallas for 1993-94.

NHL.com piled on. He is the 15th player in league history with more than one hat trick completed in overtime. Goal No. 321 of his career pulled him even with Olli Jokinen for third on the list of Finnish players, trailing only Teemu Selanne (684) and Jari Kurri (601), and his 11 hat tricks matched Patrik Laine for third among Finns, behind Kurri (23) and Selanne (22).

Rantanen credited his legs more than his hands. "When legs are going, usually the game is good," he said. Defenseman Tyler Myers put it more simply. "He's a guy that takes over games," Myers said.

Supporting Cast

Jason Robertson had two assists, including the secondary helper on the winner, in 23:34 of ice time.

Miro Heiskanen logged 29:33 and made the decisive pass in overtime. Harley played 27:50 and blocked four shots.

Jake Oettinger stopped 18 of 20. He was not busy, but nothing got past him after Hagens' tip.

Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves on 25 shots, including the two overtime breakaway stops on Johnston. He deserved better.

Stats That Matter

• 0 for 4: Boston's power play. The AP noted Dallas came in allowing an NHL-best 1.5 goals per game with the league's fourth-best penalty kill.
• 1 in 25: Power-play goals allowed by Dallas on opponents' last 25 chances, per the AP.
• 2: Dallas shots on goal in the third period. One was the tying goal.
• 22-13: Boston's advantage in blocked shots, a stat that ended up being both a strength and the source of the equalizer.

What It Means

Dallas moves to 5-3-1 with 11 points and has won three in a row after a 0-2-0 start to the season. The Stars are 2-2-0 at home and host Winnipeg on Thursday.

Boston drops to 7-2-1 with 15 points, a start that still has plenty of shine. The four-game Western trip ended 3-0-1, with wins in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles before this one, and the Bruins came away feeling good about it.

"Deserved definitely a point," Boston coach Marco Sturm said. "A little unfortunate to give up the second point, but looking back, what a great road trip."

Swayman went further. "It's been the best trip ever, just because of the camaraderie and the way we've competed and been able to just stick together every single day," he said. Boston hosts Nashville on Thursday.

Closing Take

There is a version of this game the Bruins win 2-1 and fly home perfect on the trip. They blocked everything, killed everything until the last one and got two overtime breakaway saves from their goalie. But hockey has a way of reminding you that structure only gets you so far against a player who can hold the puck for an eternity and still find the one open corner. Rantanen did not need many touches. He needed three.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.