Lehknonen ‘special player in playoffs’ for Avalanche

LOS ANGELES – Artturi Lehkonen came up ice with a head of steam with Logan O'Connor on a 2-on-1 short-handed opportunity. He said he meant to pass it to O’Connor, but the puck deflected off Adrian Kempe’s skate and went in the net instead for Lehkonen’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff short-handed goal.

“It was for sure a little bit of a different kind of goal, but I’ll take it,” he said after the Avalanche’s 4-2 win in Game 3.

But that’s Lehkonen, finding a way to score whether it’s short-handed, power play, 5-on-5, intentional, unintentional, doesn’t matter.

Lehkonen is always a dependable player for the Avalanche, but he seems to hit his stride in the playoffs. He leads the Avalanche with three points (two goals, one assist) heading into Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNSC, truTV, TNT, ALT, TVAS2, SNP, SNW, SN360.)

The Avalanche lead the best-of-7 series 3-0.

The 30-year-old has 336 points (165 goals, 171 assists) in 660 career regular-season games with the Montreal Canadiens and Avalanche. He has 50 points (28 goals, 22 assists) in 81 career playoff games. That includes 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 20 games in 2021-22, when he helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup.

He continues to be a threat at left wing on the top forward line with center Nathan MacKinnon and right wing Martin Necas.

“He’s always a special player in the playoffs,” MacKinnon said. “I think the style of game he plays thrives in the playoffs. He plays a very hard, inside game. He has such a great attitude. Every shift he’s going to give it his all and play his best, so we’re lucky to have him.”

For Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, Lehkonen’s great playoff work starts with habits.

“This is a guy who is dialed in on both the offensive side of things and the defensive side of things. I think he’s one of our most intelligent players, he understands exactly what we’re trying to do within the structure of our game, how the game’s played,” Bednar said. “And he’s just a fierce competitor as well. When you take the competitive side of it, the intelligence side of it, the ability that he has, it’s loose pucks, 50-50 pucks, he’s always winning his touches to advance it, to get it to the open man. He understands where they are and how to make that happen.”

With his goal in Game 3, Lehkonen became the 12th Finnish player in NHL history to get 50 postseason points, tied with Teuvo Teravainen (23 goals, 27 assists). He’s nine playoff points away from tying former NHL forward Saku Koivu for 10th (59 points).

“I feel he’s a guy, a quiet guy who just shows up and works extremely hard,” Avalanche forward Brock Nelson said. “He’s just a crafty player, too. He’s extremely competitive, unsuspecting maybe to some with how he carries himself.

“Just quiet and goes about his business, but if you’re to (isolate) him and watch his battles and compete, it’s up there at the top. He wins a lot of those battles, too, more often than not. Knows how to generate offense, gets to the net, creates space for himself and get open for other guys, to put away big goals. I feel he’s done it for a long time and a number of different situations.”

Yes, Lehkonen is very quiet. The noise he makes on the ice, especially this time of year, makes up for it.

“He’s a guy who if you look at his goals, it’s always big goals, it’s always going to the netfront and getting a touch on a puck and different situations. Like (in Game 3) penalty kill, he’s not only on our power play, it’s penalty kill, 5-on-5, he’s impactful in all those areas. That starts to shine through when you get in a series like this when it’s hard to score goals,” Bednar said.

“When you do the right things repeatedly and you play smart and you’re highly competitive, good things are going to happen for you. That’s why I have Lehkonen, not just through the regular seasons but when the going gets tough and you get in a series like this, those things tend to shine through because he’s doing the right thing all the time.”