PHILADELPHIA — Before heading to New York last week to play the Rangers, the Avalanche players’ message to one another was twofold.
They agreed they were a special team, and to prove it, they had to be better on the road.
After a 4-1 win against the on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the Avalanche head home 3-0-1 on their first lengthy road trip this season and boast one of the NHL’s most dominant lines.
scored twice, added a goal and the Avs’ secondary scoring showed up with a goal from .
The team with a 15-19-7 road record last season had points in all four games.
“Itap going to be important being better on the road,” Landeskog said. “You have to be a dominant home team, but you have to be at least .500 on the road. It was a big road trip, and we talked about it before this trip. Itap an exciting time to be a part of this team, and itap an exciting time to go on the road to start the season.”
The Avalanche took advantage of an early power play to get their surging first line going. Rantanen took a pass from Nate MacKinnon to beat Flyers goalie Brian Elliott with 16 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first period.
MacKinnon and Rantanen are tied for the franchise’s longest point streak to start a season (nine games) with and Anton Stastny, who did it in 1988.
Landeskog added to the line’s dominant numbers in the third period, scoring on a breakaway for his eighth goal of the season. Rantanen capped things off with an empty-netter near the end of the third period. He and his linemates combined for 23 points (13 goals) on the trip.
“When you’re playing with two good players like Mikko and Nate, offensively we’re going to create and itap going to take care of itself,” Landeskog said. “We’re just trying to move and skate and talk and try to be threats out there, all three of us.
Avalanche coach was happy with the trio’s dominant showing but shook things up with the secondary lines ahead of the game because of a lack of production. The team had just one goal outside of their top three heading into the game.
Bednar moved to the fourth line in favor of , but it was Nieto who ended the drought for a night.
And Matt Calvert, who signed with the Avalanche in free agency after playing eight seasons with the , was called a “sneaky good addition” by MacKinnon before the game.
The production from the secondary groups gave Bednar a chance to rest his first three a little more.
“I liked all of our lines. … MacKinnon’s line played the least that they’ve played all season,” Bednar said. “It tells you that we had four lines going at the end of a road trip.”
“Certainly we know we can rely on that line a little bit more than we did tonight, but tonight we didn’t have to because we had other guys contributing.”
After the demotion, Jost centered and Marko Dano. Dano played his first game for the Avs after being picked up on waivers from the .
The 23-year-old Austria native was a first-round pick in the 2013 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had three points (two goals) last season and had 45 points (19 goals) in 130 career games. He played 9:23 and had two shots.
Colorado’s tallied 37 saves, allowing a goal to Flyers second-year forward Nolan Patrick in the third period.
The Avalanche, which hosts Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, converted 1-of-2 power plays and killed all three of its penalties.
