Amidst a plethora of injuries, the Avalanched needed their best players to step up.

Fortunately, that’s been the case and then some.

A week after center Nathan MacKinnon was named the NHL’s second star, forward Mikko Rantanen did him one better. Rantanen was named the league’s No. 1 star for games played last week on Monday morning.

Mikko Rantanen (@Avalanche), Linus Ullmark (@NHLBruins) and Adam Fox (@NYRangers) have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Nov. 13.#NHLStats: https://t.co/51HFK3APjJ pic.twitter.com/1dUejWHrhy

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 14, 2022

In just two games played, Rantanen put up a ridiculous seven points. That came in the form of three goals and four assists, including the game-winning goal against Nashville last Thursday. The Avs beat the Predators 5-3, and followed that up with a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. Rantanen was involved on all four goals, tallying one goal and three assists.

Even without Gabriel Landeskog (knee surgery), Valeri Nichushkin (ankle surgery) and a slew of important second-tier players, the Avs are still rolling. They’ve won four straight games and now sport an 8-4-1 record and 17 points on the young season.

Their success is truly a testament to Rantanen, MacKinnon and Cale Makar being excellent, along with Logan O’Connor stepping up and consistent goaltending from both Alexandar Georgiev and Pavel Francouz.

The Avalanche will look to keep things going tonight against the St. Louis Blues and earn a fifth victory in a row. The defending champs are still playing like champs, even with a slew of injuries.

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