Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick dooms Avalanche in brutal Game 7 loss

DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche was less than 13 minutes away from exorcising some playoff demons.

An old friend created a new one.

Mikko Rantanen dragged the Dallas Stars back from a two-goal deficit in the final period, and a late Wyatt Johnston tally finished off one of the biggest collapses in Colorado franchise history, a 4-2 loss in Game 7 of this Stanley Cup Playoffs series Saturday night at American Airlines Center.

Rantanen and fellow ex-Avs forward Matt Duchene set up Johnston’s series-winner, which came with 3:56 remaining and 17 seconds after Jack Drury went to the penalty box for hauling down Tyler Seguin near the Avalanche net.

Rantanen cut Colorado’s lead in half with 12:11 remaining in the third period. It was the third goal and team-leading ninth point of the series for Rantanen, who was traded by the Avalanche in late January to Carolina and then to Dallas six weeks later ahead of the deadline.

The guy who had 34 goals and 101 points in 81 career playoff games in an Avalanche uniform tied this contest at 2-2 with 6:11 remaining. It came at the end of a Stars power play, with Cale Makar in the box. Rantanen attempted a wraparound shot, and it went off Samuel Girard and into the net.

For nearly two and a half periods, the Avalanche had put up a defensive wall. Rantanen busted it down with two individual efforts.

The last time these two teams played a Game 7 in this city, 8-year-old Josh Manson was in the building at Reunion Arena. His father, Dave, was a rugged defenseman for the Stars and his team held off a late rally by the Avalanche in a 3-2 victory to advance to the 2000 Stanley Cup Final.

Manson scored the biggest goal of his life midway through the second period. For the second time in this series, Logan O’Connor created a massive shorthanded goal.

Roope Hintz entered the Colorado zone and tried to connect with Mikko Rantanen near the right point. O’Connor deflected the puck into the neutral zone, then punched it forward again into the Dallas end and outraced Thomas Harley to it. O’Connor stopped, turned and snapped a pass to Manson cutting to the net.

His shot went off the right post, but bounced off the back of Jake Oettinger and into the net.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the first Game 7 goal of his career to make it a 2-0 lead. MacKinnon came off the bench as an extra attacker during a delayed penalty on the Stars. Ryan Lindgren had the puck at the left point and gave to his hard-charging teammate.

MacKinnon went around Wyatt Johnston in the left faceoff circle and flipped a quick shot between Oettinger and the near post just 31 seconds into the third period.

Dallas coach Peter DeBoer was 8-0 in his career in Game 7s before this contest. The eight wins is tied for the most by a coach or player in NHL history. He was also 3-0 in series against Jared Bednar and the Avalanche, winning one time with three different teams (San Jose, Vegas and Dallas).

MacKinnon had lost all four of his Game 7s, including in 2020 against the Stars. He had just one point in those four contests.

The Stars defeated the Avalanche in seven games during the 2020 playoffs inside the NHL’s “Covid bubble” in Edmonton. Current Avs forward Joel Kiviranta scored the winner, completing the second Game 7 hat trick in league history.

Dallas knocked Colorado out last season, with Duchene scoring the series-ending goal in overtime of Game 6.

Each of the previous two postseasons ended with a loss on home ice, but also with a locomotive-sized hole in the lineup because Valeri Nichushkin had left the team in the middle of the series. There’s no obvious excuse to fall back on this time.

The Avs were the healthier team for the entire series. Two of Dallas’ best players, No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen and goal-scoring leader Jason Robertson, did not play at any point. Colorado enjoyed the triumphant, emotional return of captain Gabe Landeskog after nearly three years away, and his on-ice play has been beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.

Just like a year ago, a longer-than-expected offseason has arrived. Landeskog’s recovery removes one captain-sized question that has dominated the past couple of offseasons. There are plenty of other hard questions, and the answers may not be easy to find.

There were four unrestricted free agents in the lineup Saturday night, led by No. 2 center Brock Nelson. Beyond who re-signs or who replaces the departed players, a different question will loom over everything — how does this franchise find its way back to the top of the mountain, given all that it’s tried (and traded) in recent years to match its magical 2022 run?

Not to mention how to recover from such a stunning defeat.

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