NHL

Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche

· National Hockey League
Final
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Rantanen has 9th career hat trick, Avalanche beat Kings 4-2

Mikko Rantanen lifts Avs to win with hat trick

Rantanen’s goal at 10:01, his second of the night, gave Colorado the lead in the third and he added an empty-net goal with 1:59 remaining for his second hat trick of the season. Artturi Lehkonen also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 13 saves for the Avalanche.

Nathan MacKinnon, who had three assists, has at least one point in 16 of 17 games this season and all 10 home games.

Los Angeles goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves before leaving early in the third period with an apparent injury. David Rittich finished with three saves.

Adrian Kempe had two goals, including one 32 seconds into the game, for the Kings. Lehkonen tied it at 3:40 of the first period but Kempe scored again off of a Colorado turnover with 4:09 remaining in the opening period.

Rantanen tied it with 3:53 left in the second second.

Takeaways Kings: Did not record a shot on goal in the second period. Kevin Fiala’s breakaway shot that rang off the right post midway through and then Los Angeles had its first shot in more than 23 minutes at 55 seconds of the third.

Avalanche: The power play struggled all night. Colorado didn’t have a shot on goal in its first three man-advantages and had trouble generating any momentum.

Key moment Logan O’Connor battled two Kings players along the boards before MacKinnon dug out the puck and backhanded it to Rantanen, and he beat Rittich to put Colorado ahead.

Key stat Jared Bednar coached in his 635th game with the Avalanche, breaking a tie with Michel Bergeron for the most in franchise history.

Up next The Kings host Detroit on Saturday, and Avalanche host Washington on Friday to finish a four-game homestand.

Regular Season Series

COL leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 0:32 Adrian Kempe Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Trevor Moore (8), Anze Kopitar (14)
Goal 1st Period 3:40 Artturi Lehkonen Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Mikko Rantanen (13), Nathan MacKinnon (24)
Goal 1st Period 15:51 Adrian Kempe Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Anze Kopitar (15), Trevor Moore (9)
Goal 2nd Period 16:07 Mikko Rantanen Goal (10) Snap Shot, assists: Cale Makar (19)
Goal 3rd Period 10:01 Mikko Rantanen Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (25), Logan O'Connor (2)
Goal 3rd Period 18:01 Mikko Rantanen Goal (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Nathan MacKinnon (26), Artturi Lehkonen (3)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/la.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/col.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCOL
18 Blocked Shots 15
24 Hits 20
4 Takeaways 4
15 Shots 26
0 Power Play Goals 0
1 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
39 Faceoffs Won 19
67.2 Faceoff Win Percent 32.8
11 Giveaways 12
3 Total Penalties 1
6 Penalty Minutes 2

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,059 | Capacity:

2024-25 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Vegas 11 6 24 2
Calgary 10 6 23 3
Los Angeles 10 7 23 3
Edmonton 10 8 22 2
Vancouver 9 6 21 3
Seattle 10 9 21 1
Anaheim 8 8 18 2
San Jose 6 11 16 4

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 16 3 32 0
Minnesota 12 3 27 3
Dallas 12 6 24 0
Colorado 10 9 20 0
Utah 7 8 17 3
St. Louis 8 11 17 1
Nashville 6 11 15 3
Chicago 6 12 13 1
Full Standings