Stars credit Rantanen's breakthrough goal: 'Huge relief for him'

The Dallas Stars are hopeful Mikko Rantanen's key tally - his first goal of the playoffs - in Monday night's Game 5 victory over the Colorado Avalanche can serve as a springboard for the remainder of the series.

"Huge," Dallas head Pete DeBoer said, per NHL.com's Nicholas Cotsonika. "Huge relief for him. You could tell by our group's reaction how happy our guys were for him. I mean, they feel that. They see him carrying that around."

DeBoer added, "But this guy has scored his whole life. He gets paid to score, and I think when guys like that finally get one, hopefully, look out."

Rantanen buried Dallas' third goal en route to a commanding 6-2 victory. He entered Game 5 with only one assist in the series against his former club and added two helpers after he scored.

"He's an awesome player," forward Wyatt Johnston said. "He can see the ice so well. He can make plays. He can score. So that's awesome to see him get one. I thought he was awesome tonight, and yeah, eventually, if you do enough good things, it'll start to go in for you."

Rantanen registered 18 points in 20 games with the Stars after being acquired before the trade deadline from the Carolina Hurricanes, who flipped him to Dallas after landing him from Colorado. The 28-year-old has been a strong playoff performer throughout his career with 105 points in 86 contests.

Monday's win gave the Stars a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in Denver.