The Latest Breaking News from Mikko Rantanen

Right wing Mikko Rantanen scored twice, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Golden Knights 3-0 at Denver’s Ball Arena on Monday.

DENVER — In front of increasingly optimistic fans, it would be difficult for the Colorado Avalanche to live up to the precedent set by their explosive start Friday night in Winnipeg, when four of their first shots found the back of the net.

Blink and the Avalanche might be in first place.

DENVER — Arguably the two most talented teams in a weak Western Conference, the Avalanche and Oilers have nonetheless been thwarted by inconsistency and injury this season.

TAMPA, Fla. — No championships were won Thursday night at Amalie Arena. No team paraded around the ice hoisting the Stanley Cup.

DENVER — The Avalanche made a six-layer tank sandwich.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Suddenly, the Colorado Avalanche’s strong starts are beginning to blur together enough to be forgotten.

CALGARY, Alberta — Jared Bednar’s choice of goaltender the last three games was never meant to stir speculation about a competition, nor was it a show of distrust in his starter.

DENVER — Point to any number of shortcomings as a primary reason for the Avalanche’s dramatic malfunction toward the halfway point of the 2022-23 season: injuries, lack of organizational depth, a short offseason catching up in the form of fatigue.

For a second consecutive game, a late Colorado Avalanche game-tying goal was reviewed and overturned. This time, there was no swift make-up goal to make the pain go away.

From one moment to the next, the outlook on the Avalanche’s season can deteriorate from apprehension to hopelessness, or just as easily it can swivel from existential dread to ecstatic amnesia. The defending champion Avs are testing their fans on almost a nightly basis, as they simultaneously test their own…