High-flying Avs greet Ducks on tiny turnaround

The Colorado Avalanche have had a smooth start to their season -- at least on the scoreboard. They also had their first test of adversity this week when they lost one of their leading scorers, forward Mikko Rantanen, to a lower-body injury.

The first test without Rantanen came at Vegas on Friday, and Colorado passed it convincingly, routing the Golden Knights 6-1. Now comes another challenge: playing the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night in Denver in the second of back-to-back games.

Rantanen was hurt in Monday's loss at St. Louis -- the Avalanche's only regulation loss in their first 10 games -- and is considered week-to-week. Coach Jared Bednar moved J.T. Compher to the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, and for one game the move worked out.

MacKinnon had two assists to earn at least a point in 10 straight games to start the season, becoming the fifth player in franchise history to do so. Compher had an assist on Cale Makar's first career regular-season goal in Colorado's three-goal second period against Vegas.

"When I'm playing well, I'm playing with speed and playing hard," Compher said before Friday's game. "I think I can bring that to this line. They already play with a ton of speed, so I'm hoping to complement them as best I can."

Rantanen's injury looked significant when it happened, but Bednar said he doesn't think he will be out long.

"I can tell you I don't think it's going to be a four-to-six-week injury," Bednar told reporters earlier in the week. "We're hoping he's going to be back significantly sooner than that."

While Colorado's top line is trying to blend in Compher, the Ducks are welcoming a new player. On Friday, Anaheim acquired defenseman Erik Gudbranson from Pittsburgh for forward Andreas Martinsen and a 2021 seventh-round pick.

The deal was made a day after defenseman Josh Manson was lost to a lower-body injury in a 2-1 defeat at Dallas, the Ducks' third straight setback.

Anaheim will also be without forward Ondrej Kase, who left the game against the Stars after a collision and is expected to miss at least two games.

"That's always tough, but the mindset we have in this group is that someone else can step up," Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm said after Thursday's game. "I'm not too worried about that. I'm going to miss those guys. But right now, we have to worry about what we've got.

"I'm really happy that we have guys coming up, so I'm not too worried."

Anaheim has the tough task of trying to slow down Colorado. The Avalanche started the season 7-0-1, including four home wins to open the season, before losing their first regulation game. They just completed a 4-1-1 road trip and are getting solid goaltending from No. 1 Philipp Grubauer and backup Pavel Francouz, who is expected to start Saturday.

Colorado is also benefiting from secondary scoring, something that was an issue last season. Nazem Kadri and Matt Calvert had two goals each against the Golden Knights, and 10 players have at least three goals in the first 10 games.

--Field Level Media