Mikko Rantanen scored his eighth career hat trick and Nathan MacKinnon surpassed 900 career points in the Colorado Avalanche’s 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on opening night.
The 27-year-old Finn is fourth in franchise history for hat tricks behind Peter Stastny (16), Joe Sakic (15) and Michel Goulet (13). His trio of goals in the season opener was the sixth in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
Ultimately, milestones don’t matter if the end result is a loss. Rantanen said the team will regroup and learn from the mistakes it made to be ready for the home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
“I feel like every time we got close to them, they almost immediately scored. A few times it was a one-goal game, then the next time it was a two-goal game again “, Rantanen told the media after the match. “Defensively, I have to think about it, and everyone has to be better. Of course, there are things to clean up.”
Alexandar Georgiev allowed five goals on 16 shots in two periods and was replaced by Justus Annunen who allowed two shots on four. The loss wasn’t all on the goaltenders, as there were notable mistakes made throughout the lineup.
“It’s not good enough, but our play wasn’t good enough. You can’t spend three weeks talking about specific things you know you need to improve and then give up those chances…” said head coach Jared Bednar during his post-game conference. “We’re going to look at it, review it, learn from it and move on.”
The Avalanche’s frustration came from momentum shifts throughout the game. Colorado scored first, but Vegas then responded with three goals to end the first period 3-1.
Rantanen scored his second to pull within a point, then Zach Whitecloud made it another two goals at 14:11 of the second. Casey Mittelstadt scored with less than two and a half minutes left to get within a minute, but Victor Olofsson then beat Georgiev in the final 30 seconds to end the second period 5-3.
Rantanen scored his third to bring the Avs within range, but defensive miscues allowed the Golden Knights to secure the victory with two more goals and an empty net.
The opening night loss was the team’s second time in the last five years and third in the last 10.
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