20/20: Mikko Rantanen, again, and the Stars are up 2-1 in the series

Trade is looking pretty good right now for the Stars.

I’ve been a big believer that playoff momentum means nothing from game-to-game.

And Game 3 of this series was a perfect example of that.

The Dallas Stars were slower and dominated in a 4-0 Game 2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, then returned home on Sunday for Game 3 and put together a pretty impressive 5-2 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.

Momentum means nothing, but maybe the 20/20 means something?

I guess we’ll find out now.

1. I’ve never covered the NBA on a beat basis, but I have spent considerable time covering that league as a freelancer in the past and have many media friends that work in NBA coverage.

And one of the things about NBA coverage, because of the nature of the sport, is every game is typically a re-packaging of three or four main characters.

Think about the Dallas Mavericks — before that trade — how every single game was some sort of piece about Luka Dončić, for better or worse.

Somehow Mikko Rantanen has turned the Stars playoff run into NBA-style coverage of one player — and it’s been deserved.

Every game right now for the Stars focuses on Rantanen’s exploits, he’s the biggest reason they lead the series 2-1 and each night has become finding new words to describe his achievements.