There aren't many NHL players you'd pick to succeed on a breakaway ahead of Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen.
So when Rantanen was bearing down on Chicago Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom in the shootout of Saturday's game between the two teams, you had to be thinking bad things if you were a Blackhawks supporter.
And it did turn out badly . . . for Rantanen and the Stars.
Rantanan, who already had a goal and two assists in the 3-3 game - it was his goal that sent the contest to overtime - was the second shooter for the Stars.
The Stars go down in the shootout and Mikko Rantanen was no help with his attempt 😭 pic.twitter.com/h18ktM3O2X
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 28, 2025
He cut slowly across in front of the net, a common move by players in a shootout attempt. And inexplicably, Rantanen lost control of the puck and never even got a shot off.
Just three weeks earlier, he'd scored the shootout winner for Dallas on December 7 in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He's second in the NHL with 39 assists and is riding a 10-game point streak in which the Finnish star has assembled 2-10-12 totals.
To make the flub even worse, Chicago would go on to win 4-3 on a Nick Lardis goal. The Blackhawks ended a six-game losing streak while handing the Stars their second straight loss.