*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
First, it was Mikko Rantanen's time to shine. Now, it's Artturi Lehkonen's time. Nathan MacKinnon had 3 assists, Lehkonen scored, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 5-1 victory on Saturday afternoon in Tampere, Finland.
After Rantanen picked up a hat trick in Friday's win to start the global series, fellow Finland native Lehkonen scored in Saturday's finale to help the Avalanche win both games of the global series, with Rantanen assisting on his goal. The Avalanche now own a 6-4-1 record after two Finland victories.
Lehkonen said after the game that "When you get four points, the whole trip, in some ways, you can call it a success. These two games here, we got four points. It was a long road trip for us. It is nice to go back home."
Just 33 seconds into the game was when Lehkonen lit the lamp, scoring to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with MacKinnon and Rantanen chipping in with assists. On the power play 12:27 into the period, Boone Jenner scored his second goal of the season, getting the Blue Jackets on the board to tie the game 1-1.
Colorado struck early once again in the second period, with Martin Kaut scoring 1:22 into the middle frame to make it a 2-1 lead. That became 3-1 when Logan O'Connor scored at the 4:13 mark of the second. 37 seconds later, Devon Toews made the score 4-1 with his first goal of the season. Alex Newhook scored 1:36 into the 3rd period to make the final score 5-1 for the Avalanche.
Rantanen commented on MacKinnon's 3 assists, saying that "Everybody knows how good a player Nate is. He can make plays, he can score goals, he can defend hard, good skater. He plays well in the playoffs too. So I don't know what else to want from a hockey player, so it is fun to play with him."
It was Alexandar Georgiev in net for the Avalanche, starting both ends of the Finland back to back. Georgiev improved his record to 6-1-1 with his latest win, saving all but one of the 32 shots he saw from Columbus, good for a .969 save percentage.
Finland native Joonas Korpisalo was activated off IR and got the start for the Blue Jackets, taking the loss in his first action since March. Korpisalo turned aside 40 out of the 45 shots on goal the Avalanche had, posting a .889 save percentage in the defeat.
Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen said after the game that "The first was back and forth. We had some zone time, they did. Chances were right there. We just completely lost ourselves in the second period, completely. Seven odd-man rushes. We're trying to cheat the game right now to get offense against their best players. It's a recipe for disaster."
Both teams get plenty of rest to re-adjust to the United States before they play again, with both teams resuming play on Thursday. The Avalanche play host to the Nashville Predators, with Georgiev the likely starter. Columbus takes on the Philadelphia Flyers, with Elvis Merzlikins in line to start.
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