It wasn’t a handshake line at the end of this remarkable seven-game series for Mikko Rantanen. It was a hug line.

The Colorado Avalanche made their bed with Mikko Rantanen. Now, they have to lie in it with their once-promising season over thanks to a Rantanen hat trick for the Dallas Stars in Saturday night's Game 7.

Since the Stanley Cup win in 2022, the Avalanche have won just one playoff series and lost two Game 7s in the process. With MacKinnon and Cale Makar at the height of their primes, Colorado has to find a way to get back over the playoff hump for another deep run.