Rantanen has second straight hat trick as Stars beat Jets 3-2 in series opener
Associated Press
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored a natural hat trick in the second period and the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots for Dallas, which is facing Winnipeg in the postseason for the first time.
Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who snapped a four-game home win streak at Canada Life Centre. Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves.
Scheifele returned to action after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 5 of Winnipeg's opening-round series against St. Louis.
The Stars welcomed back forward Jason Robertson, who injured his knee in the team's final game of the regular season and missed Dallas' first-round matchup with Colorado.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Friday in Winnipeg.
Rantanen, who had a hat trick in the third period of the Stars' Game 7 win over Colorado in the first round, is the third player in NHL history — and the first in nearly 40 years — with hat tricks in consecutive playoff games.
Edmonton's Jari Kurri accomplished the feat in Games 5 and 6 of the 1985 Campbell Conference final, and Chicago's Doug Bentley did the same in Game 4 and 5 of the 1944 Stanley Cup Final.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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