Mikko Rantanen’s 2 goals help Avalanche breeze past Kings 5-2

The Colorado Avalanche began the 2023-24 NHL in the best possible manner – a convincing 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

The star of the show was unsurprisingly Mikko Rantanen, whose 2 goals and 2 assists ensured Colorado have it easy in the opener.

Great start, fellas 👏#GoAvsGo

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 12, 2023

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There were concerns that the Finish striker might miss the opening game due to lower body injury, which ruled him out of the final week of training camp. In the end Rantanen was fit enough just in time and he certainly made an immediate impact.

“Just excited I guess. I missed some of camp so I was just excited to play,” Rantanen said. “Playing with good players helps also.”

Nathan MacKinnon was just as impressive, notching a goal and 2 assists, while defenseman Cale Makar finished the game with a goal and assist. Miles Wood also scored for the Avalanche, while Alexander Georgiev made 35 saves.

“They came out skating right away and created a bunch,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “They got a little stubborn with the puck at times through the neutral zone. But they’re also able to make a bunch of nice plays and create a bunch of scoring chances so they get a little bit more leeway in those areas than others.”

Carl Grundstrom and Quinton Byfield scored second-period goals for Los Angeles, who proved to be a mere consolation in a night to forget.