Rantanen has 3 points in Avalanche win against Senators
OTTAWA — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche held off the Ottawa Senators for a 5-4 win at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Nathan MacKinnon had three assists, and Cale Makar had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (39-22-6), who have won four in a row and are 5-1-0 in their past six. Jonas Johansson made 32 saves for his first win since Dec. 2, 2021.
Tim Stutzle had three assists, Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Mads Sogaard made 25 saves for the Senators (33-31-4), who have been outscored 21-10 during a four-game losing streak.
Makar gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 2:35 of the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle, and Valeri Nichushkin made it 2-0 at 5:00 when he tipped in a shot by Makar from the top of the left circle on a power play.
Drake Batherson cut it to 2-1 at 19:33 with a redirection of a shot-pass from Stutzle on a power play.
Rantanen restored the two-goal lead at 4:23 of the second, tipping a MacKinnon slap shot from the point to make it 3-1.
Shane Pinto cut it to 3-2 at 8:20. Pinto received a pass by Julien Gauthier from the left boards, skated into the slot on a breakaway and scored low blocker.
Evan Rodrigues responded to make it 4-2 at 15:17 with a wrist shot after receiving a pass from MacKinnon off the rush.
Lars Eller scored his first goal with Colorado to make it 5-2 at 18:09. Eller jammed the puck in at the left post after Sogaard.
The Senators challenged for goaltender interference, but a video review confirmed no goaltender interference occurred as Eller was making a play on the loose puck in the crease.
Travis Hamonic made it 5-3 at 2:52 of the third, scored on a rebound before Tkachuk tipped in a Stutzle wrist shot on a power play to cut it to 5-4 at 13:18.
Johansson made a sliding right pad save on a rebound attempt from the Alex DeBrincat with six seconds remaining to preserve the lead.
