The Dallas Stars started Game 2 against the Edmonton Oilers in Finn-tastic form.
Dallas made NHL history by starting five players from Finland on Friday. Per the Stars, it’s the first time since the NHL began tracking skaters that all five starting skaters were from Finland.
All five have been key contributors for the Stars this post-season, none more so than Rantanen, who entered Friday’s action leading all post-season players in both playoff points (20) and goals (nine).
Rantanen and Granlund were both trade deadline acquisitions for the Stars this season.
“They’re phenomenal,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said of his teammates playing more than 5,000 miles from their home country on Thursday. “I’d say we’re a Finnish-first team probably now.”
The Stars boast five of the 13 Finnish-born players on the four teams still chasing the Stanley Cup.
In the East final, the Florida Panthers have four Finnish players who were also part of last year’s Stanley Cup title: captain Aleksander Barkov, Eetu Luostarinen, Niko Mikkola and Anton Lundell. Carolina, which had Rantanen for a 13-game stretch this season before trading him to Dallas, has Sebastian Aho, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Juha Jaaska.
The lone Finn on Oilers is Kasperi Kapanen, whose only point so far this post-season was a huge one: an overtime goal to wrap up the second-round series against Vegas.
You can watch the remainder of Game 2 live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
— With files from the Associated Press
