Rantanen has goal, three assists, Avalanche defeat Hurricanes

DENVER --Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Rantanen has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) during a five-game point streak
"He was great," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Physical, hard on pucks, playing with guys on his back, making plays forehand and backhand. I thought he was fantastic tonight."
Cale Makar scored twice, and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (8-4-1), who have won four in a row. Pavel Francouz made 24 saves for his first win of the season (fourth start).
The Avalanche were playing without forwards Gabriel Landeskog (knee surgery), Darren Helm (lower body), Shane Bowers (upper body), and Valeri Nichushkin (ankle surgery), and defensemen Bowen Byram (lower body) and Samuel Girard (lower body).
"[The Hurricanes] make it difficult for you to move the puck, but the scoring chances we gave up tonight, I would say … were probably the best of the year so far," Bednar said. "I thought our guys were really focused. I think, with the guys you have out of the lineup, knowing how deep [the Hurricanes] are, that you couldn't have any passengers. And we need a lot from a lot of guys, and I thought they gave it to us."

Jordan Staal scored, and Antti Raanta made 24 saves for the Hurricanes (9-5-1), who have lost three of their past four games.
"We need everyone really going, especially playing against this team, and we didn't have that tonight," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was a tough game. I didn't like our start. We gave them two goals in the first [period] and you're just chasing the game. Too good of a team to give them two. I thought, really, after that the game was pretty even."
Makar gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 14:29 of the first period during a power play when his point shot bounced off the glass before going in off the left skate of Raanta.
"I thought it went right through [Artturi Lehkonen's] arm, kind of. Or he sucked in his gut, kind of let it go by him," Makar said. "Just a good bounce off the glass kind of, I guess"
Makar extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:51, scoring from the right face-off circle.

Staal cut it to 2-1 when he one-touched a Jordan Martinook saucer pass at 13:55 of the second period.
"Just hounding pucks and playing in their end and wearing teams down is what we're trying to do out there, and it's nice to be rewarded with some offense as well," Staal said. "We're going to try to keep building on that.
"Down one going into the third [period], obviously, yeah, we had an opportunity there to kind of push the first two periods behind us and just go and try to win a game, and clearly we didn't pull that off. A couple mistakes, and obviously their top players can make you pay quick, and that was the story tonight."
MacKinnon made it 3-1 at 4:17 of the third period, scoring off a dot-to-dot pass on a 2-on-1 with Rantanen.
"He's an incredible player, and obviously he brings it every single night," Makar said of MacKinnon. "He's obviously making a lot of plays, and he put it through the five-hole, straight through, tonight."
Rantanen scored an empty-net goal at 17:50 for the 4-1 final.
NOTES:Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid left in the first period with a lower-body injury. There was no update after the game. … Makar scored his 50th NHL goal in his 191st game, the fourth-fewest needed to reach the mark among defensemen in League history, behind Phil Housley (148 games), Ray Bourque (170 games) and Denis Potvin (185 games). It was also his 50th multipoint game, passing John-Michael Liles for the third-most among defensemen in Avalanche history. Sandis Ozolinsh is first with 63, and Tyson Barrie is second with 57. … MacKinnon has 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) during a five-game point streak. … Colorado defenseman Devon Toews had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, six assists).