CALGARY, Alberta — Mikko Polo.
Mikko Rantanen is the Marco Polo to Avalanche opponents. It takes guesswork to anticipate when and where he’s going to beat you. This is no neighborhood water game, but the Avs use Rantanen to hide in relative obscurity before he attacks.
One shift he’s the right winger on the second line with center Carl Soderberg and Colin Wilson. And the next shift he’s the right winger with fellow NHL all-stars Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog — aka the MGM Line. He’s also dropped to the third and fourth lines at times.