Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

The answer was there all along. It’s Game 7. It’s a thing that Dallas and Colorado were bound to encounter at the end of this two-week thrill ride.

That set up a predestined meeting between Rantanen and the Avalanche, a team he played for in the first decade of his career and won a Stanley Cup with in 2022. It took the Stars