Postgame Wrap-Up: Rantanen Scores Twice In Road Swing Conclusion

PHILADELPHIA--Looking to finish its four-game East Coast road trip strong, the Colorado Avalanche's top line once again took charge with right wing Mikko Rantanen leading the trio.
Rantanen had already recorded six points (one goal, five assists) in the first three games of the trip, and he added two more tallies on Monday to help the Avalanche defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at Wells Fargo Center to wrap up its road swing.
It was the Nousiainen, Finland, native's fifth career multi-goal game, and he now has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) on the season, tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews for first in the league.

"Our line is playing good hockey, so is the whole team," said Rantanen. "I think the team is playing really well. It was a tough road trip for us, tough games, but we came out 3-0-1 so it can't be a lot better than that. I think the team is feeling good right now, we just have to keep going like this."
On this past stretch away from home, Rantanen and his linemates, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, combined for 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in the four outings. In Philadelphia, the trio had three goals and two assists.
To open the scoring in the game, MacKinnon drew Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott toward him and then sent the puck to Rantanen, who was waiting in the low slot and found twine while Colorado was on the power play early in the first. He also scored an empty-net marker in the final minutes.
The Avs' secondary scoring factored into the game as well as Matt Nieto netted his first goal of the season to give Colorado a 2-0 lead in the second period .
"(Matt Calvert) did some good work behind the net there and was able to get a defender on his back," said Nieto. "I kind of just found a soft area in the slot there, and he was able to make a great pass on my stick and I was able to get it by the goalie.
"That line [of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen], they carry a big load and they take a lot of pride in what they do. But, for the rest of the group, we like to contribute too, so it was a good feeling."
The Avalanche improved to 6-1-2 on the season, tied with the Nashville Predators for first place in the NHL. The club is also 5-1-1 against the Eastern Conference this campaign.
"We played some good games on the road. Some of the ones when we were a little bit up and down, our big guys were good, our goaltending was good, our special teams were good," head coach Jared Bednar said of the trip. "We are doing enough to win, and I still think we got room for improvement. I think a lot to like, a lot to build on but a lot to like for sure.
"We don't feel like there is any reason why we can't play the way we do at home even out on the road, even though there are usually some tougher circumstances. I think the guys are off to a good start with that, buying into what we are selling and guys are committed. A real good road trip."
VARLY CONTINUES STRONG START: Making his sixth start of the season, Semyon Varlamov finished the contest with 37 saves to improve to 4-0-2 in 2018-19.
His .953 save percentage ranks second among goaltenders that have played three or more games, and his 1.63 goals-against average is third in the league.
"He made a couple key saves there when they had some momentum there, and they were shooting a lot against our net," Rantanen said of Varlamov. "He has been really good this year, so has been [Philipp] Grubauer, so it's a good situation for our team."
SPECIAL TEAMS SUCCESS: Colorado finished 1-for-2 on the power play and has notched a man-advantage goal in eight of its nine games this season (9-for-33, 27.3 percent). The Avs are also 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) on the power play in six road outings in 2018-19.
Against the Flyers, the Avalanche was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, the second consecutive contest that it didn't allow a power-play marker. The squad's short-handed unit is 38-for-42 (90.5 percent) this campaign, ranking third in the NHL.
"I think just establishing that pressure," Nieto said of what is working well on the penalty kill. "We are going against some top players in the league every night and just trying to make them uncomfortable and make them get rid of the puck quicker than they want to."
DANO'S DEBUT:Forward Marko Dano made his Avalanche debut after being claimed on waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 15.
He began the game on a line with Tyson Jost and Gabriel Bourque. He had two shots, two hits and two takeaways in 9:23 of ice time.
LANDY LEADS LEAGUE'S THREE STARS: Landeskog was named the NHL's first star for the week ending on Oct. 21 on Monday morning. He had a league-leading six goals and seven points (tied with MacKinnon) in three contests last week.
He continued to find offensive success at the Flyers, assisting on Rantanen's first marker and scoring an unassisted tally at the beginning of the third period after he picked off a pass in the defensive zone and had a breakaway.
"This could be given to the whole line really. Not only that, but it's the whole team," the Colorado captain said before the outing in Philadelphia. "It's not about me--it's about the team winning, and it's about the team playing well. That's been key or obviously this wouldn't have happened if the team lost a couple of games. It's about the team and ultimately my teammates and linemates that play well."