Avalanche Fans Outraged After Controversial Call Tips Scales of Series Against Stars
Photo credit: Edit from Newsday
The Colorado Avalanche took a bad penalty late in Game 7 that led to the Dallas Stars' winning goal, and fans on social media are still fuming over it.
Mikko Rantanen dished out the last act of revenge Saturday night, posting a third-period hat trick, the first in Game 7 history, to drive the Dallas Stars to a stunning 4-2 comeback win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Against the team with whom he won the 2022 Stanley Cup, Rantanen flipped the series on its side after a modest start.
Rantanen was a man on a mission in the final three games of the series
He tallied 11 points in the final three games, four of which came during the third period of the last game. Colorado was ahead 2-0 to start the third period, but could not maintain it.
"Emotional," said Rantanen, whose third goal went into an empty net with three seconds remaining in the game. "They're my brothers, you know. I still love every one of them. Obviously we were enemies in the series on the ice, but they're my dear friends off the ice. It was emotional and I love every one of them."
After a deflection off a splintered stick on a Cale Makar power-play shot that sparked a Dallas rush and subsequent penalty in the opposite direction, Rantanen's back-of-the-net feed deflected off Avs defenseman Samuel Girard and in to tie it up.
Later, Wyatt Johnston gave the Stars the lead on a power-play goal with under four minutes remaining. That was the culmination of a closely contested penalty that has gotten the Avalanche crowd steamed.
Jack Drury was penalized for holding Tyler Seguin, but it seemed there wasn't a lot of illegal contact, a suspect call at a critical moment that changed the momentum and got people fired up on social media.
The defeat stretched Colorado's ugly streak to seven consecutive Game 7 losses. Head coach Jared Bednar remains winless in four Game 7s, two of which came against Pete DeBoer's Stars.
It wasn't the collapse that infuriated Avs fans so much, it was the feeling that the referees were in on it.
| POLL | ||
MAI 4 | 398 ANSWERS Avalanche Fans Outraged After Controversial Call Tips Scales of Series Against Stars Was this a bad penalty call? | ||
| Yes | 295 | 74.1 % |
| No | 103 | 25.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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