The Latest Breaking News from Mikko Rantanen

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.

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…

The emotional high of Alexandar Georgiev’s season was aired on television after the seventh game. Two months and 30 games later, the low-point was also visible for everyone to see.

DENVER — Nights like this from Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen shouldn’t be taken for granted. Nor should they be wasted.

As much resilience as the Avalanche’s first third of the season demanded, there remained one mountain they had not climbed entering the final game before Christmas.

DENVER — To make up for their three upcoming off days, the Avs are trying to treat fans to extra hockey on a nightly basis as a holiday gift.