It was his fifth goal off a backhand, tied for the most in the league this season, according the NHL Stats. His overall shooting percentage has been between 15 and 17.8 during his NHL tenure, but of his backhand attempts this year, 45.5 percent of those shots have hit twine.
"Just have to use it," Rantanen said of the shot. "I play on my off wing, on the right-hand side and I am a left-handed guy, so I have to use my backhand a lot receiving pucks and passing on the backhand also, a lot and shooting obviously. I worked on it a lot when I was younger."
His tally was the first of the matchup, the 24th time that Colorado has scored the first goal of the game this season, a league best. The Avs are now 19-3-2 when lighting the lamp first and own the most wins in the NHL when being the first team to find the back of the net.
The marker increased Rantanen's totals for the year to 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points in 34 games, ranking third in markers and tied for fifth in points in the league. In March, Rantanen is tied with the Vegas Golden Knights' Mark Stone for second in the league with 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists).
"It takes a lot of consistency, nowadays you don't see many guys hit 50 [goals] anymore," Rantanen said. "The goalies are so good, defensive play has gotten even better… I just try to do my best and if I can find the back of the net that is a good thing."