DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to three games Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings as Mikko Rantanen recorded his 9th career hat trick.
Los Angles got out to a quick lead against Colorado, scoring just 32 seconds into the game. Adrian Kempe found his own rebound and pushed the puck past Alexandar Georgiev to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
Colorado would respond about three minutes later when Artturi Lehkonen got the rebound from Mikko Rantanen's initial shot and found the open net. Lehkonen has picked up six points in five games this season since returning from his offseason surgery.
Kempe scored one more for Los Angeles before the end of the first period. With 4:09 left in the first, Kempe received a pass from Anze Kopitar on the glove side of Georgiev and fired a quick shot into the net.
Los Angeles would go into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
With 3:53 left in the second period, Rantanen took a long pass from Cale Makar and beat Darcy Kuemper with a forehand shot to tie the game.
Halfway through the third period, Rantanen would give Colorado a 3-2 lead after coming off the bench and finding a loose puck, beating Kuemper between the legs.
Rantanen would complete his hat trick and 4-point night with an empty net shot from the neutral zone with less than two minutes left to play in the game. Rantanen has now recorded 25 points in 17 games this season.
Colorado is back in action on Friday as they host Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Puckdrop is scheduled for 7 p.m., and you can watch the game on KTVD Channel 20.
