Rantanen focuses on mental toughness
Several areas of concern cropped up for the Avalanche amid a stretch that had seen it win once in six games prior to Monday.
A couple of key forwards weren’t producing at expected levels. Several forwards weren’t scoring enough at even strength. The power play had gone dry. And coach Jared Bednar expressed displeasure with the types of scoring chances the team allowed via turnovers and mistakes.
That’s a lot to sort through, with some of the issues more concerning than others. But Mikko Rantanen’s uncharacteristic scoring slump was among the most prominent.
Rantanen had not scored a goal in nine games entering Monday night, and he didn’t have a point in the previous three contests.
“You try to learn from the games you play and when you go through a slump a little bit, it takes mental toughness,” Rantanen
said Monday morning ahead of the Avs’ game against Calgary at Ball Arena. “You can’t get down on yourself, because then it’s over. You’ve got to try and reset. Sometimes you get frustrated, but you can’t let that get into your game because then it is hard to come back from that.
“It takes a lot of the mental side to try and reset before every game. I don’t really switch too much, just try to learn more. Like what can you do better to maybe get the puck more and be more effective.”
The slump represented the longest stretch of Rantanen’s career without a goal since he had two similar streaks in the 201718 season. He went nine games without one early in that season, then 10 in a row in late January/early February.
Rantanen went four games without a point in October last season, but he still finished with career-highs in goals (55) and points (105). He’s had other stretches in his career that were short on goals, but still high on assists and general impact.
Before the game Saturday night against Philadelphia, Rantanen wasn’t creating as many chances as he typically does, beyond not scoring any goals. Bednar moved him to center at the start of the game against the Flyers, but eventually moved him back to the wing next to Nathan Mackinnon and Valeri Nichushkin.
Rantanen finished the game with six shots on goal, his second-most of the season. Natural Stat Trick credited him with eight scoring chances, which was a season high. It felt like a step in the right direction, even if the streak wasn’t snapped.
Moving Rantanen to center bumped Ryan Johansen to the fourth line and Fredrik Olofsson out of the lineup. Johansen actually ended up playing more in the game than he had in any contest since Nov. 15. He also collected his second assist of the year, and his first at 5-on-5.