Rantanen takes star turn as Avs get back on winning path

There was something my DNVR Avalanche Podcast co-host Nathan Rudolph said this week that has stuck with me all week.

“Good teams don’t let themselves go on losing streaks.”

It’s a simple premise, and one that’s obviously true, but 82 games in a regular season is a LOT. The Avs have already had one stretch this year where they went 0-4-1 and everything was terrible and the world seemed like it was ending.

And then it just…didn’t. The sun kept coming up, the world continued spinning, and the Avalanche woke up and started winning again. Since then, they haven’t really stopped. Hell, since that five-game losing streak that ended on November 7 in that 9-4 shellacking of Nashville, the Avs only lost four times total.

So that got me to thinking about tonight’s Avalanche game. They lost to Calgary two nights ago in disappointing fashion and a very good Philadelphia Flyers team was coming into town.

The Avs have been plenty resilient in the face of endless injuries but without their starting goaltender and two of their top-six defensemen, the Flyers’ potent offensive attack presented a different kind of challenge from Calgary.

Ultimately, the answer was once again there from Colorado in a 3-1 win over the Flyers.

It certainly wasn’t pretty as there were long stretches of the action where Philadelphia dominated play but that’s why you pay a goaltender and Pavel Francouz was fantastic tonight.

Colorado was good and dangerous in the first period and Matt Calvert opened the scoring in the first period when a Calle Rosen deflected off two Avs players and the post before landing on Calvert’s stick.

The Avs rolled into the first intermission feeling good about themselves and their game as they had the 1-0 lead.

Despite absolute Flyers domination in the second period, that lead became 2-0 when Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen converted one of their classic transition plays into a goal.

Francouz was the real story of the second period, however, as the Flyers stomped Colorado all over the ice and it just didn’t matter because goals are more valuable than shot attempts and Francouz refused to let Philly in on the fun.

Rantanen scored again just minutes into the third period to mostly put the hammer down on the Flyers. This one was a nice play from Calle Rosen to keep the play alive and Nazem Kadri found Rantanen from behind the net for the one-timer.

A Claude Giroux goal with just over five minutes remaining kept the Avs honest and ruined the Francouz shutout but two points in the standings are the only numbers this team really cares about in the end they got them.

The terrible New Jersey Devils come rolling into Denver on Friday night with Taylor Hall in tow as Hall will have to see what could be when he goes against this buzzsaw in Pepsi Center.

Before that hype train gets into town, the Avs will look to the injured list and hope for quick recoveries from Grubauer and Makar.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• This was a seriously ugly game from Colorado. Had the Avs been on the other side of it, they’d be talking about deserving a better fate and running into a hot goaltender and all that. Instead, the Avs are taking their two points and not apologizing for a damn bit of it.
• That said, two games in a row now against quality opponents where they’ve been pushed back on pretty hard. We were all excited when the forwards got healthy but it looks like everyone is going through an adjustment period. The guys coming back from injury look like they’re still knocking loose some of the rust and the guys they’re playing with are all working through the usual chemistry issues that happen with lots of moving parts in the lineup.
• There was some frustration over the summer about the Avs continuing to spend resources on their bottom six but you have to give it to Colorado’s pro scouts; they crushed it. We’ve seen teams like Vancouver invest heavily into this strategy and it just hasn’t gotten the much but the Avs acquiring Matt Nieto, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Matt Calvert, and Valeri Nichushkin for the low cost of money and playing time has had a transformative effect on them. Every roster is top-heavy to some extent but there were multiple stretches tonight where the Bellemar-centered line was just tearing the Flyers up on the forecheck and the cycle. So much of Colorado’s skill is built around capitalizing on transition opportunities and then Jared Bednar can throw out a heavy line with size, speed, tons of physicality and tryhard and enough skill to regularly change games. It’s the change-up line that knocks teams off-kilter as they try to gameplan for how to attack Colorado’s skill and speed guys. When the Avs inevitably get into the postseason, this line will become the x-factor in just about any series.
• Calle Rosen had the kind of night where the coaching staff can say “Okay, we don’t need Conor Timmins just yet” as long as they continue to deal with injuries on the back end. With Makar looking like he’ll be a short-term injury (another game or two), Rosen needs to make his case to stay in the lineup when the great eight returns. Tonight was a good step in that direction.
• Rosen actually had an assist on Calvert’s opening goal but after the second period, it was determined his point shot hit both Bellemare and Nichushkin before going off the post and to Calvert. Had that stuck, he would’ve had a two-assist night. He still finished with one so life isn’t so bad.
• Adam Werner is living the life right now. Twice this week he’s gotten called up, gotten paid for NHL service time, and hasn’t had to lift a finger as the team continues his very cautious approach with Grubauer’s lower-body injury. With the Eagles in town and not playing, this was a good example of Colorado’s luxury in having their AHL affiliate right down the road. And what a deal for Werner!
• Taylor Hall comes to town on Friday. There definitely won’t be any conversations about that in the coming two days. Definitely not.