Good & Bad: Avalanche Stymie L.A. Kings Offense as Rantanen Records Hat Trick

In the final game before Valeri Nichushkin and perhaps even Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood returned to the lineup, the Avalanche again relied on their top stars to carry the load offensively. Only this time, they also stymied the Los Angeles Kings, playing their best defensive game of the season on their way to a 4-2 victory at Ball Arena.

Colorado (9-8-0) is sitting above .500 with reinforcements ready to return.

On Wednesday, the Avs held the Kings to just 14 shots, which included just five shots in the third period and a historic second, where L.A. did not get a single shot on goal. Alexandar Georgiev earned yet another victory, allowing just two goals on one of his easiest nights in quite some time.

With the triumph, the Avalanche extended their winning streak to three games and are 4-1-0 since Artturi Lehkonen returned. Their one loss was a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets in a game where they dominated play for more than 40 minutes. Lehkonen has solidified the top line. And with Nichushkin and potentially Drouin both back on Friday, they’ll give Casey Mittelstadt an upgrade on both wings to create what will likely turn into one the better second lines in the league.

Since Lehkonen’s return, Rantanen has seven goals in five games — including a hat trick against the Kings — after scoring just once in his previous 11 games. And Nathan MacKinnon, who paces the NHL in points, has a goal and 12 assists in the same five-game stretch.

NHL points leaders:

1. MacKinnon (33)
2. Kaprizov (28)
T3. Makar (25)
T3. Rantanen (25)

The Avalanche needed the top guys to carry them until they got help back in the lineup and they did exactly that. Colorado is 9-8-0 and welcomes Nichushkin back on Friday.

— Aarif Deen (@runwriteAarif) November 14, 2024

Good: Mikko Rantanen

Rantanen is scoring at will after going through somewhat of a slump. He had a hat trick on opening night and a hat trick against the Kings. In the 15 games in between, Rantanen has six goals.

His first tally came late in the second period off a slick end-to-end pass from Cale Makar, which sent him in alone on the breakaway. Rantanen fired it past Darcy Kuemper to tie things up at 2-2. In the third period, Rantanen received a pass from MacKinnon, entered the slot, and slid it five-hole past goalie David Rittich, who entered the game in relief of an injured Kuemper midway through the third period.

Rantanen later added an empty netter to complete the hat trick. His 12 goals are tied for the NHL lead. His agent Andy Scott is likely really happy with this latest surge of goals.

Good: The lockdown defense

Someway, somehow, the Avalanche locked this game down defensively in a way they haven’t done all year. It was a masterclass performance where L.A. was held to just five shots in the final 42 minutes of action. The only dangerous opportunity the Kings had after the first period was a breakaway by Kevin Fiala that hit the post. And of course, it didn’t count as a shot on goal.

Bad: The power play

On one hand, it’s great to see the Avalanche not need to rely on special teams to win a game, which has often been their saving grace while dealing with an injured forward group all season. Colorado had just one penalty and killed it off pretty easily. But on three power-play opportunities, totaling 5:55 of PP time, the Avs didn’t have a single shot on goal.

Credit to the Kings, they played the penalty kill aggressively and took away several passing lanes that would’ve set MacKinnon up for a blast from the circle. But the Avs, who entered the matchup with the second-best PP in the league, were unable to get anything on goal with the man advantage. The return of Nichushkin will give them options to adjust as needed if the PP struggles again on Friday.