DENVER — Mikko Rantanen missed training camp and the preseason, yet showed he hasn’t missed a beat after a summer of uncertainty.
Rantanen had two goals less than a week after agreeing to a contract with Colorado, Joonas Donskoi scored twice in his debut and the Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Thursday night.
It capped a wild few days and nearly 5,000 miles of travel for the 22-year-old Rantanen.
“Everything happened really quick. I got a call last Saturday and now I’m here,” Rantanen said. “It’s already been four or five days and played the first game, too. I felt surprisingly good; it’s probably going to take a couple of games to get fresh legs.”
Rantanen was a restricted free agent heading into the summer and he remained in his native Finland while contract negations dragged on through training camp. The parties finally agreed to a six-year, $55.5 million deal on Saturday night and Rantanen joined the team on Sunday, four days before the start of the season.
He had career highs in goals (31) and assists (56) in 74 games last season playing mostly with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog on Colorado’s top line. He didn’t get to work with the team until Monday, but was sharp in more than 18 minutes of ice time against the Flames.
“As soon as I watched him practice for two days, I knew he was going to pick up where he left off,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “He came in and practiced and it looked easy for him.”
Rantanen scored a go-ahead goal in the first period and added the eventual decisive score on the power play late in the second period, minutes after J.T. Compher gave Colorado a 3-2 lead.
Mark Giordano scored 16 seconds after Rantanen’s second goal but the Flames couldn’t overcome early penalties. Calgary had three in the first period and Colorado had two goals on six power-play chances overall.
“They got a lot of momentum and their top players got a lot of touches early,” Giordano said of penalties. “It carried on for a while. I thought after the midway point of the game we did a better job. When we were 5-on-5 we were very good.”
Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan each had a goal and an assist for Calgary. David Rittich had 26 saves for the Flames, who started the season the same way last season ended — with a loss.
The Avalanche defeated Calgary in the first round of last season’s playoffs, beating the Western Conference’s top seed in five games.
Donskoi got Colorado off to a quick start with a power-play goal 5:59 in, and the teams traded goals the rest of the period.
Gaudreau’s goal 1:50 into the second period tied it and Donskoi scored into an empty net with 1:09 left in the third. Donskoi also helped the Flames when Monahan’s shot deflected off of his stick and in for Calgary’s first goal.
He made up for it with a strong debut after signing with the Avalanche on July 1.
“It felt amazing. I’ve been waiting for this moment all summer,” Donskoi said. “There were a lot of emotions.”
Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer had 26 saves.
NOTES: Calgary LW Milan Lucic was given a game misconduct late in the second period. … The Flames announced Thursday they had signed general manager Brad Treliving to a multi-year contract extension. Treliving is in his sixth year as the club’s GM. … Avalanche D Conor Timmins made his NHL debut Thursday night. He was Colorado’s second round pick in the 2017 draft. Fellow defenceman Cale Makar had an assist in his first regular-season game. Makar played in 10 playoff games last spring.
UP NEXT
Flames: Hosts Vancouver in their home opener Saturday night.
Avalanche: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.LOS ANGELES — Walker Buehler allowed one hit over six scoreless innings, Max Muncy drove in three runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers capitalized on mistakes to beat the Washington Nationals 6-0 in Game 1 of their NL Division Series on Thursday night.
Buehler struck out eight, walked three and retired his final seven batters after earning the start over veterans Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu, whose 2.32 ERA was lowest in the majors this season.
“He set the tone for us,” Muncy said about Buehler. “He was pounding the zone.”
Dodgers rookie Gavin Lux and Joc Pederson slugged pinch-hit solo homers in the eighth.
Nationals first baseman Howie Kendrick had two grounders roll under his glove, the second leading to the Dodgers’ second run in the fifth.
Washington’s Patrick Corbin stumbled through a rocky first inning. He issued four walks, joining Art Reinhart of the St. Louis Cardinals as the only pitchers to walk that many in the first inning they ever pitched in the post-season.
Reinhart walked four — including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig — in the fifth inning of Game 4 of the 1926 World Series against the Yankees.
Corbin walked three in a row with two outs in the 31-pitch inning. Yan Gomes was charged with a passed ball, too, and Muncy drew a free pass with the bases loaded to put the Dodgers in front.
“We didn’t play very well today,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
Corbin gave up two runs — one earned — and three hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out nine and finished with five walks.
Cody Bellinger walked with two outs and scored on an error by Kendrick in the fifth that made it 2-0. Third baseman Anthony Rendon made a diving stop on Chris Taylor’s single down the line, but his throw to first wasn’t in time and Bellinger went to third.
Muncy’s grounder rolled through Kendrick’s legs for an error, scoring Bellinger, and Taylor got thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
In the fourth, Muncy singled leading off. Corey Seager followed with a hit that got past a diving Kendrick at first and rolled into right, sending Muncy to third. But then Corbin settled down and retired the next three batters to end the inning.
The Nationals loaded the bases in the fourth on three walks by Buehler. He escaped when Asdrubal Cabrera tapped the ball back to the mound and Buehler flipped to first to end the inning.
Juan Soto, who had the key hit in the wild-card win over Milwaukee, singled in the second and Trea Turner singled in the ninth off Joe Kelly for the Nationals’ only hits.
It was a quiet offensive night for each team’s MVP contender. Rendon, who hit .319 in the regular season, went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts and a walk. Bellinger, a .305 hitter, struck out twice and walked twice.
It was the fourth shutout in games between the teams this season, and third by the Dodgers.
Los Angeles won its eighth in a row dating to the regular season. Washington’s nine-game winning streak, including the wild-card victory, ended.
IN THE CROWD
Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King, part of the Dodgers’ ownership group, shared a box with principal owner Mark Walter, Sandy Koufax and Tom Lasorda. … Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, former Dodger Matt Kemp, former Dodgers manager Joe Torre and actor Jason Bateman attended.
UP NEXT
Coming off the first relief appearance of his career, Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg will start Game 2 against Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw on Friday. Strasburg tossed three shutout innings in a dramatic wild-card victory over Milwaukee. He’s under no limitations returning two days later. “My arm’s felt great all year,” Strasburg said. He would be available to return on normal rest for a potential Game 5 next Wednesday in Los Angeles. By starting Kershaw in Game 2, the Dodgers could possibly use him out of the bullpen if Game 5 is necessary.
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