The right leg raised. All of Mikko Rantanen’s balance shifted to his left skate, the same side where the puck resided on his stick. He approached Winnipeg’s net in slow motion — painstakingly slow, like a cocky, yet cautious predator that knows its prey is cornered.

J.T. Compher streaked into the offensive zone to Rantanen’s right, turning the attack into a 2-on-1. Rantanen had options. “He’s got such a good release that he beats goalies from all around the ice,” said teammate Bo Byram, who watched the play unfold from behind. “He’s got three or four different releases that he uses.”

This type of release isn’t deceptive, though. When the right leg lifts itself off the ice, there’s no hiding Rantanen’s intent. His body is turned away from the open teammate, his weight and power surging entirely into one swift motion of the stick.

Byram readied himself to watch his teammate pounce. So did Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, one of the best in the world.

He still couldn’t do anything about it.

That was Feb. 24, but it still resonates with Byram as his favorite goal from Rantanen’s pursuit of a historic milestone.

He’s three goals away from becoming the Avalanche’s first 50-goal scorer since Milan Hejduk, 20 years ago. The Moose would be only the third player to reach that benchmark since the franchise moved to Denver. Joe Sakic did it twice, with 51 in 1995-96 and 54 in 2000-01. Hejduk ended with exactly 50 on April 6, 2003.

Rantanen is a friendly locker-room presence with a good sense of humor, but he has been sheepish when discussing his goal pace all season. Asked about breaking Sakic’s franchise record as the fastest to 30 in a season in January, he replied, “I don’t know, (Sakic) still has two Cups.” When he reached 40 in late February, he only attributed “puck luck and good linemates.”

It’s almost as if Rantanen has grown comfortable playing third fiddle to fellow Avalanche stars Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon, content to deflect attention elsewhere as his biggest moment in the spotlight arrives.

But his race to 50 is hardly superficial. Already a three-time 30-goal scorer, he has been relied on more than at any other point in his first seven years in Colorado. On one of the NHL’s most injury-plagued teams, Rantanen has been the Avs’ rock.

“I think we had like nine guys up front that were (hurt). Everybody was crying about it, and Mikko was basically just scoring for us every night,” Makar said last week in Toronto. “So he’s carried us a lot this year. At that point in the season there was no doubt — I still think he should be up for probably the MVP. For our team at least, just the way he’s carried us.”

Every great goal-scorer has distinct flourishes or go-to spots on the ice. Rantanen, a left-handed wing who prefers to play on his off-hand side, is best known for his top-shelf snapshots from the right faceoff circle, or for hesitating an extra second when he gets the puck near that spot to identify a shooting lane for his wrister.

But everyone in the Avalanche locker room has their own opinion on the best brand of Rantanen goal. Some have specific favorites.

For Byram, the 2-on-1 snipe at Winnipeg stands out because of Rantanen’s use of shot placement. “He was at kind of a tough angle but roofed it far side against Hellebuyck,” Byram remembered. The young defenseman was the first to greet Rantanen against the boards, smiling in awe.

Denis Malgin is Rantanen’s newest linemate amid the injury tornado. He shares Byram’s admiration for the consistency with which Rantanen can thread the needle.

“You know which goal was really nice? His snap against Chicago the other day,” Malgin said. “In the top corner. That was just a really good shot.”

That was prototypical Rantanen, getting a pass from Compher on the weak side, taking one stride toward net, then releasing from the right face-off dot. Chicago goalie Alex Stalock wasn’t screened or impeded, but Rantanen’s stick-side snapshot rocketed into the precise upper corner. It almost touched both the far post and the crossbar.

Malgin made a point to get a view of the jumbotron to see the replay. He recalls saying to nobody in particular, “That’s really cool.”

Ask Rantanen’s teammates for their favorite of the season, and most will say something along the lines of “too many to choose from.”

Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) and Arizona Coyotes defenseman Patrik Nemeth (2) battle for the puck in the second period at Ball Arena March 24, 2023. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)”I’m trying to think of all the goals he’s scored,” Alex Newhook said, laughing.

“There’s a lot of star-power worthy ones, but … I’d have to go through the archives a little bit,” Erik Johnson said. “There’s so many. You score 50, it’s like every game, you score.”

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure he scored every single one of our goals in December,” Makar said.

That’s why they think in terms of categories. There are the players who love those blasts into the roof of the net. There are those who are dazzled by his strength on the rush at cutting off a defender’s angle.

“When he gets the puck off the rush and cuts the seam, that’s kind of vintage Mikko,” Johnson said. “He just cuts middle, gets a guy on his back and scores. He scores a lot of those.”

Then there are the hipsters of the roster — those who prefer the underappreciated skill required of Rantanen on his less-attractive finishes.

“My favorite are his five-hole goals,” Compher said. “When he kind of opens up the (skate) blades and then closes it and slides it pretty hard five-hole.”

“I think that shows the sign of a true goal-scorer,” Newhook added. “And he’s scored a lot there this year. But I think a lot of times when you run out of room, you can’t shoot for the corners. To shoot it five-hole is pretty impressive. … He has a great shot, but a lot of guys in the league have really great shots.”

If that’s not contrarian enough, consult Avalanche coach Jared Bednar for his opinion.

He’s more interested in Rantanen’s passing than his scoring.

“What impresses me most about Mikko is his ability to make plays and get his head up and find other linemates with guys on his back,” Bednar said. “Like, in heavy pressure. Sometimes one guy trying to check him, a second guy coming, and he’s still able to control the puck with heavy pressure on him, even leaning on his body … and find guys way away from the puck. Not necessarily just me to you. But like, rink-wide passes. Passes to the other side of the ice.”

So what about Rantanen, the man who gets so squeamish when asked to talk about his career year? He has a keen memory. Occasionally he’ll reference a goal Makar scored a month earlier without thinking twice about it.

So, of course, he’s going to go into specifics about his personal favorites.

His sentimental pick is the hat trick he scored in Finland last November. With family and friends in the crowd for Rantanen’s first NHL game in his home country, he capped a special performance with an empty-netter. They chanted his name in Tampere, giving him chills.

But that’s not the winner.

“Overtime goals are always fun to win the game and end the game,” Rantanen said. Specifically, Feb. 19 vs. Edmonton. In front of a packed Ball Arena on a Sunday afternoon, Rantanen scored from the less-common left side with 30 seconds remaining in OT. The Avs had rallied from a 3-0 deficit. “That was a big game,” he said. “End of the comeback.”

When asked about his teammates’ debate over the coolest type of goal he scores, Rantanen might have revealed the real secret to his success.

He thought of his options: one-timers, deflections, five-holes. Goals that ricocheted into the net off his hand. He even scored one this season that never crossed the line — he was slashed from behind on a breakaway with an empty net, making the result a goal by rule.

The Moose shrugged. “I don’t really care how it goes in.”

Avs’ single-season goal scorers

Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen is already in exclusive company as one of just four players to score 40 goals in a season since the franchise moved to Colorado for the 1995-96 campaign. Of course, he’s still got a ways to go to catch Hall of Famer and current team executive Joe Sakic, who did it three times in burgundy and blue and still holds the single-season Avs record. 

Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.