Mikko Rantanen says that the Colorado team is trying to raise their confidence as the important season approaches. Rantanen also praised the young goalkeeper Justus Annu.
Mikko Rantanen was the guarantor of the victory for the Colorado Avalanche when he forged the seventh hat trick of his NHL career. At the same time, he stretched his team’s winning streak to seven matches.
The Finnish striker scored the opening goal of the match, a 3-3 equalizer and completed his hat-trick by scoring a 4-3 winning goal in the St. Louis Blues’ net.
After the victory, Rantanen said that Colorado’s players are trying to raise their confidence as the important time of the year, i.e. the playoffs, approaches.
– The chemistry of the team is good, but we work hard for that. We talk about (confidence) a lot and we’re proud of it. We just have to continue in the same way, Rantanen said.
Thanks to a great winning streak, Colorado has kept up with the Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division standings. Both teams have 93 points, but Winnipeg has played one game less.
With his three goals, Rantanen again approached the mark of 100 power points, as he now has 37+56=93.
He passed the round with his goals Saku Koivun in the all-time scoring list of Finnish NHL players. Rantase now has a total of 257 goals, Koivu completed his career with 255 goals.
Rantanen rose to fifth in the Finns’ goal statistics. The fourth is the captain of the Florida Panthers Alexander Barkov 261 with his goals.
The best hockey of the season
Rantanen stated that Colorado is currently playing its best hockey of the season. The game has been good all season in their home arena, but the away matches have been inconsistent, Rantanen estimates. Now there are already four consecutive victories in the travel games.
The goalkeeper is also in top form Justus Annunen. The Finn has been the goalkeeper three times during the seven-game winning streak.
In the Chicago match at the beginning of March, Annunen played a clean sheet while blocking 37 shots. Against Calgary, there were two back-to-back hits, and 25 saves. In the St. Louis Blues away game, the puck stopped 30 times.
Rantanen, who is part of Colorado’s captaincy, praised the 24-year-old goalkeeper after the Blues victory.
– (St. Louis) is a good team that is aiming for a playoff spot. We knew it was going to be a tough match as they had won four matches in a row. They had some chances, but Justus was good in goal, Rantanen stated on the NHL website.
Annunen has played eight matches this season, winning five. The Finnish keeper has accumulated up to 239 tackles and his tackle percentage is 92.6.
Granlund hit, pass to Aho
The San Jose Sharks were among the other Finns to score Mikael Granlund and the Carolina Hurricanes Sebastian Aho. Carolina beat the New York Islanders 4–1, Aho scored the perfect goal into an empty net.
Granlund’s goal was a thin consolation, as the Nashville Predators beat San Jose 8-2. Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros managed to save only 18 shots.
Ottawa Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo the evening speech was chilling. The Finn blocked 20 shots as the Boston Bruins won 6–2. Boston’s Czech striker David Pastrnak I finished the second season and hat trick number 17 in my NHL career.
Three goals in the round of the night also finished the Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele. Winnipeg won Kaapo Kako represented by the New York Rangers 4–2.