*Photo from the Mankato Free Press*
It's safe to say that Mikko Rantanen took full advantage of his homecoming. Nathan MacKinnon had 4 assists, Rantanen notched a hat trick and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 6-3 victory on Friday afternoon in Finland.
Friday was game one of two in the NHL's global series in Tampere, Finland, between the Avalanche and Blue Jackets. Rantanen and Columbus's Patrik Laine, who are both Finnish, both felt it was great to return home to play hockey, and Rantanen heard the crowd chanting his name in a sing-song style.
Rantanen said of the crowd's cheering that "The crowd chanting that was pretty cool. I had chills on the bench. It was really cool, I didn't expect it. I thought the crowd was really good the whole game. I was happy there. I was surprised and it gave me chills, you know."
Starting the scoring early for the Avalanche was Logan O'Connor, who scored his second goal of the season 1:36 into the game to make it a 1-0 score, assisted by Erik Johnson and Alex Newhook. On the power play 12:27 into the game, JT Compher doubled the lead to 2-0, assisted by Sam Girard and Devon Toews.
Just 35 seconds into the second period, Rantanen scored his first goal of the game, with MacKinnon and Evan Rodrigues assisting to make it a 3-0 game. Exactly one minute later, Jakub Voracek scored for the Blue Jackets to cut the deficit to 3-1. Laine then scored 7:16 into the second period to cut the deficit to 3-2 on his second goal of the season.
In the 3rd period, Sean Kuraly scored 2:32 into the period for the Blue Jackets, tying the game 3-3 on his second goal of the season. Rantanen scored on the power play 8:54 into the 3rd period, followed by even strength goals from Cale Makar and Rantanen again, making the Avalanche lead 6-3, which held for the rest of the game.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that "I liked our effort tonight, I liked some of the things we did. It still wasn't a full 60 from us. I thought the first period was real good from our guys, making sure we weren't give up a lot, scoring chances against. Second period I thought they outplayed us both on special teams and 5-on-5. Then in the third period, we stepped up and elevated. Really good effort from the guys."
Getting the start for the Avalanche was Alexandar Georgiev, who got the win while stopping 36 of the 39 shots he faced from the Blue Jackets, recording a .923 save percentage. Georgiev improved his record to 5-1-1 on the season.
It was Elvis Merzlikins who got the start for the Blue Jackets, taking the loss to drop his record to 2-5-0 to start the year. Merzlikins turned away 30 out of the 35 shots on goal from the Avalanche, recording a .857 save percentage in the loss.
Voracek said of the game in Finland that "It was a good hockey game. Even for the players, I am sure the other side felt the same way, it was an up and down hockey game, a lot of scoring chances, a lot of big saves. A lot of fight, a lot of hitting, lot of power plays. A fun hockey game to watch. Unfortunately, Colorado showed their experience."
Up next, game two of the global series is on Saturday afternoon in the U.S., with puck drop scheduled for 2:00. Pavel Francouz gets the start for the Avalanche, while Joonas Korpisalo is lined up to start for Columbus.
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