Dallas – Mikko Rantanen will try to make his old bosses lie on Saturday evening at the American Airlines Center.
Rantanen and the Dallas stars will face the Colorado avalanche during a seventh game in this first round series between the two teams in the Central Division.
Exchanged to the Hurricanes of Carolina earlier this season after 619 games played with the avalanche, Rantanen has since passed his suitcases for Texas, where the Finn was exchanged on the deadline for transactions.
The star striker had difficulty starting during this series by alminating a single point during the first four clashes. However, he exploded in the last two games with two goals and five assistance. Despite the performance of four points in Rantanen in match no 6, the avalanche managed to win 7 to 4 during the sixth duel to force the holding of an ultimate match against their former teammate.
“You will never hear me saying harm about Mikko Rantanen,” said head coach of the avalanche Jared Bednar. You look at what he has done for us since I was here and he was part of the 2022 champion team. He is an excellent hockey player and a very good person. »»
Bednar and his team will have bread on Saturday evening in Dallas. The avalanche has lost six consecutive ultimate games, the longest sequence in the NHL history on an equal footing with the Senators of Ottawa and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The avalanche has not won since 2002, when the team then led by Bob Hartley had defeated the San Jose Sharks in the conference semi-final.
Nathan Mackinnon has a 0-4 file with a single mention of assistance in matches No 7. Bednar and the defender Cale Makar are both at 0-3 and Captain Gabriel Landeskog is 0-2. Makar was also bleached the scoring sheet during these three games without a future.
On the other hand, the stars have won their last two games No 7. Their head coach Peter Deboer has a perfect 8-0 sheet in such circumstances, a NHL record.
Dallas will always be deprived of the services of Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen. The two star players will therefore have missed the entire round against the avalanche.
Jake Oettinger and Mackenzie Blackwood should be the two starters. It will be a very first departure in a seventh match for Blackwood.
