Good and Evil: A tale of two appearances in the Avalanche's season opener

There wasn't much great to take away from the Avalanche's season-opening 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. But two players stood out, for completely opposite reasons. One couldn't stop shooting, the other couldn't stop allowing goals.

READ MORE: Game recap of Colorado's 8-4 loss at T-Mobile Arena

The good: Mikko Rantanen

The Avalanche's top winger came into action on opening night and scored a hat trick in a losing effort. Rantanen, who still doesn't have a contract extension, was a big part of what we expected to be a top-heavy lineup for the Avs at the start of the year. Alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, Rantanen was a force at even strength and on the power play.

His first goal marked the first goal for both teams. Colorado came out strong in the first few minutes, scoring before the Knights could even gain a foothold. Waiting at the top of the circle for a pass from MacKinnon, Rantanen fired a one-timer past goalie Adin Hill while on one knee. It is the Mikko specialty.

He followed with his long PP goal, played half the wall on his wing and scored another one-timer after a pass from star defender Cale Makar. Rantanen later added another goal just as Colorado's second power play opportunity was coming to an end. Same point, same type of goal, from the same PP quarterback setting it up from above.

Unfortunately for Rantanen, every time the Avs scored, Vegas quickly scored another goal.

Evil: Alexandar Georgiev

On Tuesday, I asked General Manager Chris MacFarland if he wanted to start the season with another impending UFA starting goalie. And MacFarland made no comment at all about talking to Alexandar Georgiev about a contract extension. At least not yet and maybe never. Not when games like this become the norm.

Georgiev struggled in the season opener, conceding five goals on 16 shots in two periods before being substituted for Justus Annunen. The substitutes didn't fare much better either, stopping three of five shots in 15 minutes before head coach Jared Bednar decided to take the goalkeeper off with five minutes left.

Together, both goalkeepers only blocked two-thirds of the shots they faced. Luckily the empty goal only allowed one goal.

But the responsibility lies with Georgiev. And hopefully he actually stops the puck on Saturday. Colorado will need a lot more from the starting lineup, especially in the early going when it is shorthanded and lacks firepower at the top of the lineup. The one positive side? Georgiev looked terrible in Game 1 of the 2024 postseason, but bounced back very well and immediately in the first round against Winnipeg.