Blackhawks Daily: Avalanche Lose Mikko Rantanen in a big loss to Oilers

It was a busier than usual Friday night in the NHL but the Chicago Blackhawks were not a part of it. Instead, they were idle as a lot of different matchups went down including a couple of Central Division foes. 

One of them, the Colorado Avalanche, had a particularly tough night. For one, they lost to the Edmonton Oilers by a final score of 6-2. The Oil are one of the top teams in the Western Conference and getting through them might be something you need to do to win the conference. When those two teams play, all eyes are on Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. They are two of the top three scorers in the NHL right now and one of them very well could win the Hart Trophy. 

However, they aren’t the only stars involved in this matchup. Both teams are icing some super-elite players who can only be overshadowed by guys like McDavid and MacKinnon. 

One of them is Mikko Rantanen. The problem is that he was hurt in this game which is terrible news for the Avalanche. They lost more than just the game as their second-best forward may be out for a while. 

Rantanen went down with what they are calling an upper-body injury after he took a big hit from Mattias Ekholm. We don’t know the extent of his injury, but they need to hope it isn’t too long. They need a healthy Rantanen in the lineup if they are going to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Rantanen is one of seven players in the NHL to have already eclipsed the 100-point total this season. We have seen him be elite in the playoffs too so seeing him miss time there would be devastating for the Avalanche. 

If he ends up being okay, this will all be a worry for not but it is hard not to think about the impacts this could have on the whole league if he isn’t healthy moving forward. For the sake of the NHL being at his best, it would be nice for everything to be okay with this player.

Blackhawks In Case You Missed It

• The Rockford Ice Hogs have been surging and Cole Guttman has been a big part of it. The Blackhawks need to see him keep this up.
• Gavin Hayes, Nick Lardis, and Paul Ludwinski all have different playoff fates right now. But their production keeps that trajectory sky high
• Should the Blackhawks change the course of the rebuild if they win the lottery again? The Chicago Hockey Now guys have weighed in.
• Nick Lardis signing with the Blackhawks is another big step forward for the rebuild. He may be able to help them take a step one day.

Hockey Now Playoff Focus

• Philadelphia Hockey Now: The Philadelphia Flyers are seeing their playoff hopes fade as they have lost another game to a team they should have beaten.
• Buffalo Hockey Now: The Buffalo Sabres are somehow still alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race after the events of Friday night.
• Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins and their playoff hopes had a great night while they were idle.
• Boston Hockey Now: The Boston Bruins may not have been able to use him in the playoffs but it is a little bit surprising that they didn’t make a bigger push for NCAA free agent Collin Graf.