“Biggest choke job in franchise history”- Fans react as Mikko Rantanen STUNS former team Avalanche with hat trick in Game 7 victory

Mikko Rantanen scored a third-period hat trick in Game 7 for the Dallas Stars and eliminated the Colorado Avalanche from the playoffs.

“Biggest choke job in franchise history”- Fans react as Mikko Rantanen STUNS former team Avalanche with hat trick in Game 7 victory

Mikko Rantanen (Image via Yardbarker)

Mikko Rantanen came back to haunt his former team, the Colorado Avalanche, in Game 7 on Saturday. The final game of the first-round best-of-seven series saw the Dallas Stars knock out their opponents with a 4-2 win, which included a hat trick from Rantanen.

Earlier this year, the Avalanche shocked the world by trading away Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Finnish international was in the final year of his contract. The trade move to the Hurricanes did not work out well, and he was soon traded to the Stars, where he signed an 8-year, $96 million contract extension.

With a 7-4 win in Game 6, the Avs looked to be on their way to the second round when Nathan MacKinnon scored at the start of the third period to make it a 2-0 game. However, Mikko Rantanen had some other plans.

The ex-Avs star showcased his speed, power, and strength to score twice for the Stars. A powerful wrist shot and a smart wrap-around shot on the powerplay leveled the game for the hosts. He was then involved in the go-ahead goal in another power-play scored by Wyatt Johnson with less than 4 minutes remaining.

In the dying moments, the Avs would pull out their goalie and brought in another attacker to find a goal which would force overtime. They were unable to do it and lost possession of the puck. Rantanen would skate away and fire home an empty-netter to complete his hat trick and eliminate his former team.

The hat trick from Rantanen saw him script history. He became the first player to score a hat trick in the third period of a Game 7 in NHL history.

Social media reacts to Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick in Game 7 against Avalanche

In the game on Saturday, the Colorado Avalanche received a major shock to their system following an inspirational performance from one of their former stars, Mikko Rantanen. His hat trick in the final period turned out to series clinching moment for the Dallas Stars.

Mikko Rantanen
Mikko Rantanen (Image via Sportsnet)

Safe to say fans on social media were left stunned, too. While many applauded him for his efforts, several Avalanche fans slammed their team for this performance. One user on X wrote, “Biggest choke job in the franchise history” while reacting to the team’s 4-2 loss.

Check out that and some other reactions from X below:

The Stars will now move on and play against the winners of the Winnipeg Jets-St. Louis Blues series. That series has also headed to Game 7 following the Blues’ 5-2 win on Friday.

Avalanche script unwanted sporting history with Game 7 loss against Stars

For a second year running, the Colorado Avalanche were dumped out of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Dallas Stars. Following their loss in Game 7, they scripted an unwanted sporting history.

Mikko Rantanen
Mikko Rantanen turned out to be the villain for the Avalanche in Game 7 (Image via Yardbarker)

As per data provided by Opta, the Avs are the first team in MLB/NBA/NHL history to lose 7 consecutive Game 7s. Their last win in a Game 7 came in 2002 when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

As for their coach, Jared Bednar, he now has a 0-4 record in Game 7. For the Avs, the 2024-25 season is now over, and they will now take a backseat as the second round of the playoffs commences soon.

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