Mikko Rantanen scores overtime winner for Avalanche over Canadiens

To make up for their three upcoming off days, the Avs’ holiday gift to fans is extra hockey on a near-nightly basis.

Stretched to overtime for the second consecutive game and fourth in the last seven, the Avalanche ended a five-game homestand with a 2-1 win over the Canadiens on Wednesday night. Artturi Lehkonen scored a third-period, game-tying goal in his first game against his former team, and fellow Finn Mikko Rantanen netted the walk-off winner with 3:09 remaining in overtime.

It was Rantanen’s 22nd goal of the season and his second overtime winner in the last 10 days.

“Defense-first, that’s our mentality,” Rantanen said. “I think it has to be.”

Especially right now. The Avs (18-11-2) are having no trouble unleashing more shots on goal than their opponents. But making those opportunities meaningful is another issue. In the last four games of this five-game homestand, they outshot opponents a combined 153-93 (an average of 38-23). But they only scored seven goals during that span — 1.75 per game — good for a 4.6% shooting rate.

And still, they have somehow won five of six games and tallied a point in six of the last seven. They’re onward to Nashville on Friday (6 p.m.) before a brief holiday respite.

“I’m hoping we’re going this time to play a hockey game then get a few days off,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said, referring to the team’s Thanksgiving trip to Nashville that ended in a postponement.

“It just felt like we’d been on the road the whole year,” Bednar said when summing up the successful homestand. “We’re at Game 30 and it felt like we were never home. We came home, we’d play one game, we’d be back out on the road. We’d come home. We’d play two. We’re back out on the road. It just felt like we haven’t spent any time here, so that can wear on you from an energy standpoint. Mentally, just always being gone. So I think it’s good for our guys to get home.”

The Avs are still waiting on the return of some key players, and they’re waiting on the production to return from one who’s back. Valeri Nichushkin scored seven goals in seven games to start the season, then missed a month with an ankle injury. Now he hasn’t scored in seven games since returning.

On Wednesday, perhaps his best scoring chance yet fell at his feet … and off his feet. Rantanen threaded a beautiful pass to J.T. Compher during an Avalanche power play. The puck found its way from Compher across the crease to Nichushkin, who stood right in front of an open net.

If his stick had found it, he would’ve had an easy goal. Instead the puck ricocheted off his skate and away from the net. It was Colorado’s most enticing chance of the first two periods, which ended with a 1-0 deficit. “Probably just rust,” Bednar said, “and sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”

The Avs had gone 107 minutes, 48 seconds without a goal when Lehkonen struck. It was seven seconds into a power play and 2:16 into the third period — another example of Lehkonen’s clutch propensity.

“I don’t know,” he said, laughing when asked how he scores at such timely moments. “Right place at the right time.”

As unlikely as that breakthrough felt, the Habs’ opener was even more so because of the source. Anthony Richard was 1:48 into his third career game when he scored his first NHL goal. That had some extra sting at Ball Arena, given the Avs have debuted four players this season without a goal from any of them.

But goals have been hard to come by for the Avalanche’s veterans and the youth lately.

“You try to simplify a little bit,” Rantanen said. “When you’re going through a rough offensive time, when you’re not scoring as much, you try to maybe shoot more. I think that’s what we’re doing.”

Denis Malgin made his Avalanche debut after being traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played on the third line with Ben Meyers and Logan O’Connor, replacing the injured Andrew Cogliano, and was on the ice 16 minutes.

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