Rantanen has 9th career hat trick, Avalanche beat Kings 4-2

DENVER -- Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the third period to complete his ninth career hat trick, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Wednesday night.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL