‘He Came Up Big’: Dallas Stars Beat Boston Bruins 3-2 In Overtime As Mikko Rantanen Scores All Three Goals
DALLAS — Mikko Rantanen scored all three goals for the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, ending it with a power-play backhand at 3:52 of overtime in a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at American Airlines Center.
The win was the third straight for Dallas, which improved to 5-3-1 in the first game of a six-game homestand. Boston fell to 7-2-1 with its first loss since Oct. 5, a result that ended a five-game winning streak on the last night of a four-game road trip the Bruins finished at 3-0-1.
Boston had 36 seconds left to kill on a slashing penalty to Pavel Zacha when the winner came on a 4-on-3 power play. Miro Heiskanen found Rantanen low on the left side, and Rantanen carried the puck toward the crease before tucking a backhand over the glove of Jeremy Swayman.
It was the 11th hat trick of Rantanen’s career and his first in the regular season since Dallas acquired him in a March 2025 trade. He became the fourth Stars player to finish a hat trick in overtime since the franchise moved to Dallas for the 1993-94 season. By Stars coach Glen Gulutzan’s count, Rantanen held on to the puck for about 60 seconds before he made his move on the winner.
“Those are big goals,” Gulutzan said. “The last one he held on to for I think 60 seconds before he made his move. He made some plays tonight. He was all over it, and that’s what those guys do. You need those guys to do that in order to win these types of games. He came up big.”
The goal was the 321st of Rantanen’s career, tying Olli Jokinen for third among Finnish players in NHL history. Teemu Selänne (684) and Jari Kurri (601) are the only Finns with more, according to NHL.com.
Jason Robertson had 2 assists. Jake Oettinger made 18 saves for a .900 save percentage, and Swayman stopped 22 of 25 shots for Boston, including two breakaway attempts by Wyatt Johnston 10 seconds apart early in overtime.
Boston went 0-for-4 on the power play. Dallas entered the night allowing an NHL-best 1.5 goals per game, and the Stars have now allowed one power-play goal on opponents’ last 25 chances, according to The Associated Press.
Mikko Rantanen Answers Boston Twice
Matthew Poitras gave Boston a 1-0 lead 2:09 into the first period, one-timing a cross-ice pass from Frederic Brunet over Oettinger’s blocker from the left circle. The goal stretched Poitras’ point streak to four games, according to Boston Hockey Now.
Dallas killed a hooking penalty on Thomas Harley midway through the first. The Stars got a power play of their own with 1:33 left in the period when Tanner Jeannot was called for roughing, and Swayman stopped a Johnston one-timer and a Rantanen backhand during it.
Rantanen tied it 1-1 at 2:50 of the second period. Swayman made the first save on Rantanen in the slot, Robertson poked the rebound loose before Swayman could cover it, and Rantanen buried it. Rantanen’s game starts with his skating.
“It helps when you get a goal in the second,” Rantanen said. “You start to feel the puck a little bit better and more confidence. But it starts with the legs. When legs are going, usually the game is good.”
“Been feeling good skating and want the puck all the time, and guys are doing a good job around me,” Rantanen continued. “So I’ll just try to make plays and see what’s out there.”
James Hagens put Boston back in front 2-1 at 7:30 of the second. Casey Mittelstadt carried the puck out from behind the net and fed the crease from the right side, where Hagens had inside position on Heiskanen and redirected the pass over Oettinger’s pad. It was the third goal of the season for Hagens, whom Boston drafted seventh overall in 2025.
The Stars played without defenseman Esa Lindell, who is out with a lower-body injury. Heiskanen logged 29:13 and Harley 27:30, while Kyle Capobianco came into the lineup and played beside Tyler Myers on the third pair. Gulutzan said Myers got some opportunities.
“I thought Tyler was excellent tonight,” Gulutzan explained. “I thought he skated excellent, and he got some opportunities. You could see he was moving with the puck.”
Myers had no goals and 3 assists in 16 regular-season games for Dallas last season after the Stars acquired him from Vancouver on March 4. This season, Myers did not want to force anything on offense.
“Especially coming here this year, I just wanted to really focus on my base, defensively,” Myers said, “and wanted to make sure that was where I wanted it, and [then] just started implementing some more offense into it, but not forcing anything. I think that’s what each guy should do.”
Boston’s next three power plays came in a stretch that ran from the middle of the second period into the start of the third. Heiskanen went off for cross-checking David Pastrňák, Rantanen for goaltender interference late in the second, and Sam Steel for holding as the Rantanen penalty expired. The goaltender interference call was Rantanen’s fifth minor penalty of the season, the most on the team. Across all four power plays, the Bruins put three shots on Oettinger and none on their first two, according to Boston Hockey Now. Bruins coach Marco Sturm said Dallas was very aggressive on the kill.
“That was probably a little bit of the difference tonight,” Sturm said. “We couldn’t really find our rhythm, and they were very aggressive. We had opportunities to shoot, but we just didn’t.”
Oettinger entered the night with a .952 save percentage and an NHL-leading three shutouts. Dallas entered Tuesday averaging 2.38 goals per game, and three of the Stars’ four wins before the homestand had come on Oettinger shutouts.
“Jake’s just been really steady for us,” Gulutzan said. “Gives us a chance to win every night.”
Dallas Stars Tie It Late, Then Win It On A 4-On-3 In Overtime
Roope Hintz drew a tripping penalty on Charlie McAvoy with about 13 minutes left in regulation, and the Stars did not score on the power play. Rantanen tied it 2-2 at 13:38 of the third. He played the puck to Hintz from behind the goal line, Hintz’s shot from the slot hit McAvoy, and the puck caromed to Rantanen in the right faceoff circle, where he snapped it past Swayman on the near side. Watching Rantanen is fun for Myers.
“He’s a guy that takes over games,” Myers explained. “It’s fun to watch, especially when the third one’s an OT winner. Gets the whole group excited.”
Boston blocked 22 shots to Dallas’ 13. The Bruins did not put a shot on goal over the final 16:35 of the game, according to Boston Hockey Now. Boston is physical, with big defensemen, in Rantanen’s view.
“Guys were really stepping up and playing hard,” Rantanen explained. “It was a hard hockey game. They’re a really good team. Physical, big D, big guys there. Just happy with the win.”
Harley drew the slashing penalty on Zacha by turning the corner on a rush 2:28 into overtime. Sturm said he was surprised by the call.
“I have to see it again, but yes,” Sturm explained. “My first thought was the same thing; it’s overtime, and he still got a shot off. So I just got to see it again.”
Johnston, who led the NHL with 27 power-play goals last season, had the first look on the 4-on-3, and Swayman stopped his shot at the far post and the rebound attempt that followed. Johnston got some good looks in overtime.
“I think it’s kind of impossible not to get frustrated,” Johnston said. “Especially when you get some good looks in overtime. But you just gotta stay with it. Pretty cliche, but I think that goes for me personally, also as a team.”
Nikita Zadorov was back in Boston’s lineup after sitting out Saturday’s 4-1 win in Los Angeles. The Bruins scratched him the night after he took a double minor in a 4-2 win at Anaheim. Zadorov said he would stay away from talking about penalties.
“Obviously, we would like to get two points in that game,” Zadorov said. “They are a really dangerous offensive team. You can see the skill, especially in their top-six and top-two defensemen. I thought we did a pretty good job overall defensively to keep them away from the scoresheet, but on the power play in overtime, Mikko [Rantanen] made an unbelievable play there, so you just have to tip the hat there.”
“But overall, a great trip for our team. We got seven out of eight points,” Zadorov added. “So, it’s something to build off of, and now we have two big ones at home, so we are shifting focus to that.”
The Stars trailed 1-0 and 2-1 and did not hold a lead until Rantanen’s winner. Gulutzan said Boston does not give opponents much.
“League’s easy, isn’t it?” Gulutzan said. “They’re a hard team to play. They’re well-coached, got great, big defensemen. They’ve got star players. They don’t give you a lot. You can see real estate’s tight.”
“For us, we are who we are. That’s who we are,” Gulutzan continued. “You can go back one year, maybe to the day. I don’t know who we would have played, but how many games did we go in down 2-1 in the third, and you gotta find a way.”
“That’s just the league right now. It’s hard to dominate anybody for a long period of time,” Gulutzan noted. “You got to play 60 minutes, because the game kind of swings back and forth. Power play came through on the 4-on-3, but it’s a hard-fought game. It’s tight.”
Dallas opened with Robertson, Hintz, and Tyler Seguin together, Steel and Rantanen on Johnston’s wings, and Arttu Hyry centering Justin Hryckowian and Jamie Benn. Gulutzan moved Hyry out of the third-line center spot midway through the second period, and he said Dallas has not found a rhythm with its lines yet.
“It’s not a genius stroke,” Gulutzan said. “But I kept moving Johnny being with Rants and Robo, then Roope being with Rants and Robo, just kind of looking for something whenever I could get a spot to get him out in a good opportunity. So they came through, so that’s nice.”
“But you’d like to roll and just keep some rhythm. We just really haven’t found that, yet,” Gulutzan detailed. “But we found a way here with those combinations to get it done.”
Poitras did not see the ice over the final 10:41, and Hagens sat for the last 9:02, according to Boston Hockey Now. Sturm said the young players made a few more mistakes against a veteran Dallas team.
“They still need to learn,” Sturm said. “You could see it, when you play a team like Dallas today, a lot of veterans, and it’s a little bit more [of a] playoff atmosphere. You could tell they made a little bit more mistakes than some other games, but it’s healthy, though. It’s just going to help them moving forward.”
Swayman made his third start of the trip and entered Tuesday 6-1-0 with a 1.85 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage. Swayman said the Bruins played their system right.
“That’s a hard game to play, and I am really proud of the boys,” Swayman said. “They maintained a good, solid 60 minutes, so give a ton of credit to them for locking it down, playing our system right, and giving full effort at the end of this road trip.”
Boston took seven of a possible eight points on the trip, which included wins at San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. Swayman said the Bruins had been laughing about the trip.
“I don’t think we’ve ever swept the California road trip since I’ve been here,” Swayman explained. “It’s a hard feat, and it’s hard to win in this league. This was a trip that we were all laughing, like it’s been the best trip ever because of the camaraderie and the way we have competed and been able to stick together every single day.”
Dallas beat Boston 6-2 in Dallas on Jan. 20 with Rantanen out sick, and the Bruins won 6-3 in Boston on March 31. The teams meet again Jan. 14 at TD Garden.
Boston returns home for games against the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks. The Stars host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday at 7 p.m. CT on FOX 4 and Prime Video.
