Mikko Rantanen on Ball Arena boos after four-point night: “I didn’t really hear them”
Mikko Rantanen made history by wristing home a goal through the five-hole and was greeted with a chorus of boos from Ball Arena With that goal in the second period of Contest on Thursday Rantanen and fellow Stars standout Roope Hintz became the first two teammates in NHL history to record four points apiece in a single period in a Stanley Cup Playoffs series As for the boos from the fans who cheered for Rantanen for a decade in Colorado I didn t really hear them Rantanen announced The Finnish forward caught fire in a back-and-forth Competition but his revenge match was wasted after the Avs tied the tournament on Valeri Nichushkin s goal in the third and later won it - thanks to a wild own goal by the Stars Rantanen s breakout championship came on the heels of a three-point night in Dallas - romp in Contest earlier this week He now has a Dallas-best eight points in the series leaving his early struggles against his old mates in the rearview mirror It s the same roller-coaster theme that has followed Rantanen throughout the - season He was traded from the only NHL band he knew to the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster deal on Jan and then was traded again to Dallas on March whereupon he signed an -year million contract We knew what we were getting because we played him a ton one of the best players in the world Stars goalie Jake Oettinger disclosed of Rantanen Just happy he s in green and white and wearing our logo now Related Articles Avs-Stars Contest slapshots Mikko Rantanen s revenge championship falls short as Colorado forces Battle Crazy Stars own goal helps Avalanche complete comeback force Contest Gabe Landeskog s perspective presence critical to Avalanche comeback attempt Avalanche must find different outcome in familiar situation an elimination meeting at Ball Arena Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon Cale Makar are Ted Lindsay Award finalists In his four-point second period Rantanen tallied assists on two goals by Roope Hintz and another by Mikael Granlund before lighting the lamp himself with left in the frame Rantanen got fed the puck as he streaked down the center of the ice for a clean look and Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood didn t have much of a chance But after the Stars third-period own goal where Sam Steel tried to clear the puck but it hit off Colin Blackwell s shoulder and went in the top right shelf for a - Avs lead Rantanen expressed little surprise the series between the divisional rivals is headed to Challenge on Saturday in Dallas It was a couple bad bounces for us this day Rantanen mentioned Their first goal on Valeri Nichushkin s tipped-in shot even the second one Cale Makar fans on the slapshot and it goes backdoor for Artturi Lehkonen Sometimes you ve got to earn the bounces and the bounces went their way in current times We ve got to try to earn particular bounces on Saturday to go our way The more desperate organization is going to win It s ostensibly going to be a one-goal tournament like currently was until the empty-netters Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis
