Mikko Rantanen is finally rocking those Dallas colors, and it didn’t quite go in his favor! The Stars and Avs put on a show, but Cale Makar wasn’t having any extra drama—just 34 seconds into overtime, he danced through the zone and ripped a nasty wrister past Jake Oettinger, locking in a 4-3 win for Colorado. The Avs nearly let a two-goal lead slip, but Makar, Jonathan Drouin, and Valeri Nichushkin kept them rolling. Martin Necas also scored, while Scott Wedgewood made 19 saves. Dallas fought hard, with Jason Robertson, Mavrik Bourque, and Matt Duchene finding the net, but it wasn’t enough.
Rantanen wasted no time making his mark, setting up Roope Hintz for Robertson’s opening goal. The game had everything—power plays, comebacks, and chaos—but in the end, Makar shut it down. And now? Rantanen’s name is getting thrown into Wayne Gretzky conversations, all thanks to an ex-Avs teammate keeping it real.
In a video shared by Will Petersen, Erik Johnson didn’t dodge the tough questions about his former teammate Mikko Rantanen. When asked, “Any conversations with Miko?” Johnson was straight-up: “No, no. Tight divisional game. We’re rivals now, unfortunately.” But don’t let that fool you—there’s still plenty of respect between them. The two met up for dinner the night before, though as Johnson put it, “I’m sure we’ll say hi after, but all business on the ice.”
Of course, the journalist had to dig a little deeper. “How was dinner?” Johnson grinned, “Good, he paid. Free meals are always better, right?” Then came the real talk. When asked if they “got things hashed out,” Johnson didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, we love Mikko. He’s an iconic Avalanche forever. What he did to this organization helped us win the Cup. He’s a tremendous person, tremendous player. We love him as a teammate.”
Avalanches defenseman Erik Johnson has a ton of nice things to say about Mikko Rantanen, says he paid for dinner last night and will always remember him as a Stanley Cup champion. Also mentions Wayne Gretzky once got traded. It’s a business. pic.twitter.com/9C5mqwYMnz
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) March 16, 2025
But hockey is hockey. “Gretzky’s been traded. There’s these great all-time players that have been traded. It happens. Miko’s not the first and he’s not the last superstar player to get traded.” As much as it stings to see him in another jersey, Johnson made it clear: “We have to move forward. We love the pieces we got in return, but we’ll always love Miko.”
This story is developing…
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