Eurolanche

Rantanen hat trick boosts Avalanche

Rookie Mikko Rantanen had his first NHL hat trick, and Calvin Pickard made 27 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center on Tuesday.

The shutout was Pickard's second of the season, third of his NHL career. He allowed four goals on 27 shots in a 10-1 loss in Montreal on Dec. 1.

Rantanen had a goal in each period and completed the hat trick on a 5-on-3 power play at 6:01 of the third period for a 4-0 Avalanche lead. Nathan MacKinnon passed across to Rantanen in the right faceoff circle for a one-timer that beat goalie Carey Price to the short side.

Rantanen has six goals in the past five games, 11 this season. The Avalanche (15-33-2) have won two consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 19-21. They ended a nine-game losing streak Saturday with a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets. The Canadiens (30-17-8) have lost four games in a row.

Rantanen scored his second goal of the game at 13:10 of the second period to put the Avalanche ahead 3-0. MacKinnon won a faceoff in the right circle and Gabriel Landeskog passed to Mark Barberio in the high slot for a shot that Rantanen deflected past Price.

Colorado scored two early goals and led 2-0 after the first period. Rantanen scored from above the right circle along the boards for a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the game.

Andreas Martinsen made it 2-0 at 2:25 while skating down the left wing, beating Price to the short side for his third of the season. Pickard had the second assist, his first of the season.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --