Stars’ Mikko Rantanen sports bubble after taking puck to face

It was a scary few moments for the Dallas Stars‘ marquee deadline acquisition, but Mikko Rantanen powered through.

The winger went down early in the second period after taking a shot from teammate Ilya Lyubushkin in the face. He remained on the ice in visible pain before heading down the tunnel.

Not ideal for a Stars team that’s already missing top-six centre Tyler Seguin and franchise defenceman Miro Heiskanen.

Thankfully for the Stars, they didn’t have to worry too long.

Rantanen returned to the game shortly thereafter sporting a full face shield and was able to finish out the game.

It was a rare stroke of (relative) luck for Rantanen, who’s suffered a rollercoaster of an individual season following his Jan. 24 trade from the Colorado Avalanche.

His short tenure with the Carolina Hurricanes was lacklustre at best, with just six points in 13 games. Eventually becoming clear that Rantanen and the Hurricanes would not find middle ground on a contract, Carolina traded the two-time 40-goal scorer to the Stars, who subsequently signed him to an eight-year, $96 million contract.

Since joining the Stars, Rantanen has two goals and two assists in seven games.