‘Legendary stuff’: Fans react to Rantanen’s Game 7 vs. Avalanche
For Mikko Rantanen, revenge is best served cold. In fact, it’s best served on ice.
For Mikko Rantanen, revenge is best served cold. In fact, it’s best served on ice.
The Dallas Stars forward delivered a legendary performance against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche, in their first-round series, including a four-point showing in the winner-take-all Game 7.
The 28-year-old Finn signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Stars at the 2025 trade deadline. He was initially dealt from the Avalanche — for whom he played parts of 10 seasons — to the Carolina Hurricanes, in a move he called “surprising,” but after failing to reach an agreement there, he was acquired and signed by Dallas.
Even after the months-long debacle came to an end, Rantanen maintained that he never asked to leave Colorado and wanted to remain with the team that drafted him.
“Colorado was always where I wanted to stay, but I understand it’s business and they made a decision,” Rantanen said in March.
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What better way to show the Avalanche front office what they missed than by putting on an absolute clinic against them?
Rantanen’s Stars looked to be on the outs when they were down two goals with 18 minutes remaining. Cue playoff Mikko, who scored not once, but twice to bring his team back even.
Then, on a crucial late-game power play, Rantanen recorded the secondary assist on Wyatt Johnston’s game-winner.
The cherry on top? Rantanen sent the puck into the empty net to complete the hat trick with 2.7 seconds remaining, bookmarking the Stars’ four unanswered-goal comeback.
Rantanen has been dominant all series against his former squad, racking up 12 points in seven games (five goals, seven assists), and his performance Saturday stands as the lone Game 7 third-period hat trick in NHL history.
“They’re my brothers. I still love every one of them. It was emotional,” Rantanen told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan after the game about his former team.
Also making history is Dallas bench boss Pete DeBoer, who, with a 9-0 record, has won more Game 7s than any coach or manager in the history of North American major sports, including the NHL, NBA and MLB.
The record has been accumulated with four different teams since 2012. His first came with New Jersey, and he has since had three each with San Jose and Dallas and two with Vegas. The Stars have won a seven-game series in each of his first three seasons with them.
Two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Darryl Sutter was 8-3 in Game 7s.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end, the Avalanche are the first team in North American major sports to lose seven consecutive Game 7s.
After a wild finale to an even wilder series, here are some of the best reactions from around the sports world.
— With files from the Associated Press
