Mikko Rantanen is on a history-making tear. The Florida Panthers need a history-making comeback.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will seek a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers tonight, while Rantanen — on a scoring roll the likes of which hockey hasn’t seen in generations — will lead the Dallas Stars into Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Winnipeg Jets.

Florida lost a pair of one-goal games at Toronto to open their series, which resumes on the Panthers’ home ice for Game 3.

History says the Panthers are in big trouble: Toronto has won all 11 of its previous best-of-seven series when taking a 2-0 lead at home, Florida is 0-5 all-time in series where it dropped both Games 1 and 2, and leaguewide, teams facing 0-2 deficits come back to win those series only about 14% of the time.

Over in the West, where Dallas stuck first in Winnipeg with a 3-2 win, Rantanen is the third player in NHL playoff history to have a hat trick in back-to-back games. He’s had a hand in each of Dallas’ last 12 goals, a streak unmatched by any player on any team in playoff history. He’s the first player in playoff history with at least eight goals and six assists in a four-game span.

Thursday’s action:

Capitals 3, Hurricanes 1: Connor McMichael and John Carlson scored, Logan Thompson made 26 saves, and the Washington Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 to tie the second-round playoff series. Tom Wilson sealed it with an empty-net goal with a minute left.