Valeri Nichushkin, Jonathan Drouin and Martin Necas also scored for the Avalanche. Scott Wedgewood made 19 saves. A fan favorite, Rantanen spent nearly a decade with Colorado.

Facing off against Mikko Rantanen and the Dallas Stars, Martin Necas is ready to show he has what it takes to get the job done in the NHL playoffs.

DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche was less than 13 minutes away from exorcising some playoff demons. An old friend created a new one. Mikko Rantanen dragged the Dallas Stars back from a two-goal deficit ...

Mikko Rantanen celebrates one of his three third-period goals during the Stars’ 4-2 Game 7 win against the Avalanche on May 3, 2025. Getty Images ...

Avalanche at Stars Series tied 3-3 With goals from Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen, Colorado went up 2-0 in the first. But it didn’t take long for the pace to pick up in the second.

Valeri Nichushkin completed a hat trick with an empty-net score after Nathan MacKinnon knocked in the go-ahead goal with 4:15 remaining and the Colorado Avalanche rallied from two goals down to ...