Joel Kiviranta is on a hot-streak unlike any we have seen before in his career. He has netted a goal in three straight games, and even had two in Tuesday's game with Seattle. The surprising outburst couldn't come at a better time either. The Colorado Avalanche are currently riding a four game win-streak after an equally awful skid to start the season.
Kiviranta is not the only Avalanche player stepping up when the team needs it most. But he is likely the only guy doing so under the radar.
Cale Makar blowing the doors off the league is hardly new. Even as the Norris and Conn Smythe winner is racing out to a NHL leading 15 points, people are not shocked by his greatness, nor are fans unaccustomed to seeing the reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon or Mikko Rantanen high on leader boards.
One could argue that Ross Colton is Colorado's biggest surprise, as he leads the team internally with 7 goals so far. But unfortunately for the Avalanche, Colton left Thursday's 5-1 win in Utah, after taking an apparent slash to the hand. “RosCo” had been absolutely crushing it since being elevated to the top line amid the team's already dire injury situation.
Casey Mittelstadt is also setting what could be a career-best pace with 5 goals and 4 assists through just 8 games. Colton and Mittelstadt are rising to the occasion, but also notably, as part of apotent PP unit. The Avalanche are currently tied for the league lead in power play goals with 11, and sit 3rd best in conversion percentage at 39.3%.
Those are laudable stats by any measure. But again, the organization was at least hoping for a jump in production from those guys, if not exactly expecting it to materialize so soon.
That's what it means when Bednar moves Colton from 3rd line center to top line wing to play with MacKinnon and Rantanen. It also comes with the territory for Mittelstadt, as the front office inked him to a major extension in the offseason.
The impressive play of young goaltender Justus Annunen is also an obvious catalyst for Colorado's sudden turn-around. But the very nature of being a goalie means that when you surge like this, you can't do it without attracting league-wide attention.
Joel Kiviranta exploding for a goal total that exceeded his entire 2023-24 regular season number in a single road-trip should be big news. Last season, he only put in 3 goals and 6 assists in 56 games played.
Strangely though, Kiviranta is perhaps more used to these odd bursts of offensive output than anyone realizes. Even with his modest point total from last year being what it was, Kivi had me super psyched early in his Avalanche tenure.
That's because in his second and third appearances in burgundy and blue in 2023, Kiviranta looked like a sneaky point-machine. In November wins over the Ducks and Stars, he contributed three assists and a goal.
I thought for a moment the Avalanche front office might have found their next massive reclamation success story. It might sound silly, but I saw in Kiviranta as a guy who could mirror two key Avs forwards at once: Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichuskin.
Joel Kiviranta's physical profile is strikingly similar to Artturi Lehkonen. They are both 5-foot-11 Left Wingers from Finland who have two-way instincts and a seeming willingness to do the hard work. Kiviranta is a little heavier than Lehkonen, though only by a few pounds.
Where Kiviranta resembles Valeri Nichushkin is how Colorado acquired him. They signed both players to zero fanfare and expectation after Dallas seemingly gave up on them. As an Avs fan, turning Stars cast-offs into gold will always hold an extra bit of shiny appeal.
I admit now I may have been a bit hasty in my wild hopes. The other factor though, is that I remembered something very specific about the name Joel Kiviranta from a few years prior. I remembered Game 7 from 2020.
The heartbreak of a 5-4 OT loss. One where some kid named Joel Kiviranta came out of nowhere to stun my Avalanche with a hat-trick he polished off with an overtime winner to send Colorado home in the second round.
Trust me when I say I understand that might be a memory many Avs fans have buried. But I was sure when he came to Colorado that the Avalanche front office was aware of that unique history.
Thus when Kiviranta scored goals in each of the first two periods Tuesday night, I was seeing the possibility of his first-ever Avalanche hattie. Imagine my amusement then, when with the first line uttered by ESPN's in-studio crew at intermission - they asserted with confidence and some glee, that Kiviranta had never had a multi-goal game.
I suppose that whoever was working production didn't have the foresight to google Kiviranta carefully.
I say all this not just to poke fun at the world-wide leader in sports, but because I am once again feeling perhaps unreasonably happy for one my favorite grinders. Could this surprising hot-streak be a sign that Joel Kiviranta is ready to take a major step forward?
In a year that has already been a roller-coaster, I doubt anyone would guess that a fourth line meat and potatoes guy like Kiviranta would be leading the high-scoring Colorado Avalanche in plus-minus rating. But, check the numbers. Kiviranta is indeed atop the Avs heap right now.
I would be crazy to expect that to remain true much longer, given his role on the roster. But, I would contend that maybe, just maybe, Kiviranta is a player who could do a lot more for this team if he were asked.
I submit to the fact that Kiviranta is not someone who will forget who he is, simply because he scored a bit. That's part of what I love about him. He is a natural checking-line forward. Defensive mindset will always be a primary component to his game.
However, a little more willingness to fire at the net could easily unlock something for the 28-year-old Finn. Right now, the Avalanche need all the finishers they can get. Why shouldn't it be Joel Kiviranta?