"MacKinnon limited Rantanen his entire career in Colorado": NHL fans in a frenzy as Dallas Stars forward scores hat-trick in back-to-back games

Hockey fans are in a frenzy after Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen scored hat-tricks in back-to-back playoff games.

Rantanen lit the lamp thrice against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of their second-round series, powering the Stars to a 3-2 victory. It comes following his hat-trick in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche, which clinched the first-round series 4-3 for Dallas.

Rantanen is the first player in 40 years to record hat-tricks in consecutive playoff games. That has sparked excitement among Dallas Stars fans, who are elated to see Rantanen dominating in the postseason. However, it has also led to criticism of his former team, the Avalanche.

One fan tweeted:

"MacKinnon limited Rantanen his entire career in Colorado."

Another fan wrote:

"Avs GM needs to be fired right this second"

Here are some more fan reactions:

"I remember an Avs fan saying he wouldn't be anything special without Nate Mackinnon. He looks pretty stellar to me," one fan wrote.

"What the hell were the Avalanche thinking? This is Doncic to LA territory... maybe they couldn't see it with MacKinnon in their face on a daily basis lol," another fan wrote.

"Bruh. This playoffs just keeps getting better and better," a user commented.

"F**king legend. 2 playoff games versus 2 different teams. 2 natural hat tricks. This guy is a f**king beast," another wrote.

Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, while Connor Hellebuyck tuned away 21 shots. Jake Oettinger stopped 29 shots in the win for the Dallas Stars.

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How Mikko Rantanen scored his hat-trick in Dallas Stars' win against the Jets

Nino Niederreiter got on the board first for the Jets early in the second period, finishing off a rush by slipping a backhand off the far post. But it didn’t take long for Mikko Rantanen to take over. He scored a natural hat-trick in under eight minutes to flip the game on its head.

Rantanen tied things up by cleaning up a rebound in front after Evgenii Dadonov’s one-timer, giving Dallas the lead by deflecting Thomas Harley’s point shot. Rantanen then got a power-play tally, which bounced off a defender’s stick.

Within a minute later, Gabriel Vilardi forced a turnover behind the Dallas net, feeding Mark Scheifele, who made a quick wrister that beat the goaltender cleanly for the 3-2 win.