Rantanen Hat Trick Propels Avalanche in 6-2 Win Over Sharks

Keep on trending upwards.
The Colorado Avalanche are kicking off their road trip 2-0-0 after defeating the San Jose Sharks 6-2 on Thursday night in the second of two-straight meetings against the Sharks.

For the Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen (3G, 1A) netted his 50th goal of the season as he recorded his sixth-career hat trick (all at even strength), while Ben Meyers scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon (1G, 3A) also found the back of the net. Samuel Girard and Matt Nieto each handed out two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 21 of the 23 shots he faced as he earned his 37th win of the season.
The Avalanche are now 47-24-6 for their season record and have 100 points and are still atop of the Central Division standings. Despite Dallas having 100 points also, the Avalanche hold the advantage as they have more wins and a game in hand.
For the Sharks, Erik Karlsson, Steven Lorentz scored. Kaapo Kahkonen made 15 saves on 19 shots through 28:06 minutes, while James Reimer made 10 saves on 12 shots through 31:54 minutes.
GAME SUMMARY:
The first period featured pretty back-and-forth action between Colorado and San Jose as they were locked at a 1-1 score and neither team took a penalty. The Avalanche held a 7-6 edge in shots and blocked nine shots during the opening frame.
San Jose drew the game's first strike at 15:43. Kevin Labanc fired a shot on net that Georgiev denied, but was unable to smother up the rebound. As the puck popped out into the slot, Karlsson skated down and poked the puck through Georgiev's pads as he netted his league-leading (for defensemen) 23rd goal of the season and 97th-point on the season.
Despite falling to a 1-0 lead, the Avalanche ushered a commanding response and did just that only 1:02 later. MacKinnon picked up a pass in Colorado's defensive zone from Girard and charged towards the Sharks' net. The centerman whipped a backhander on net at the near post. Kahkonen came up with the stop, but Rantanen crashed the crease and buried the rebound as he potted his 50th goal of the season.

Following the grid lock, low-scoring first period, the Avalanche's poured on the offense in the second period as Rantanen completed his hat trick with two goals in the frame - while MacKinnon and Meyers also lit the lamp - and the team took a 5-2 lead heading into the final frame.
Rantanen recorded his second goal of the night just 2:32 into the second period. Evan Rodrigues forechecked a puck from behind the net, carried it and curled around the net front but instead of shooting he slid a horizontal pass to Rantanen where the winger roofed a backhanded shotpast a sprawled out Kahkonen.

With a 2-1 lead, the Avalanche then furthered their lead 4-1 with a pair of quick strikes in the span of 47 seconds.
Off a MacKinnon offensive zone draw win, Girard picked up the puck and returned it to the centerman. From the left faceoff circle, MacKinnon snapped a wrist shot through Rantanen net front screen and past Kahkonen at 7:19.

Not even a full 60 seconds later, Rantanen completed his hat trick. Devon Toews carried the puck into the right faceoff circle and dropped a pass to MacKinnon, who zipped a feed across the slot. Positioned at the backdoor, Rantanen tapped it in the slick pass from his linemate at 8:06 to secure his sixth-career hat trick and 52nd goal of the 2022-23 seasons.

The Sharks managed to trim their deficit down 4-2 just 35 seconds after Rantanen fulfilled his hat trick. Karlsson carried the puck from the blueline down to below the left faceoff circle, made a sharp turn and circled back up to above both circles before snapping a pass to the backdoor where Lorentz tapped it past Georgiev at 8:41.
After then having to kill off a penalty - taken by Lars Eller at 9:08 - the Avalanche obtained their fifth goal of the night. On a transition play up ice, Matt Nieto fed a pass to Ben Meyers. En route, the puck deflected off the skate of Karlsson and was sprung airborne. Meyers snatched it out and dropped it to his stick blade before sending his shot through Kahkonen's pads at 15:08.

Colorado furthered its lead 6-2 early in the third period as Meyers netted his second goal of the game. Alex Newhook carried the puck into the offensive zone and sent a cross-slot pass to Meyers on the backdoor where the feed deflected off his skate and past Kahkonen at 3:12. Nieto picked up his second assist on the play.
The Avalanche - backed by continued outstanding netminding from Georgiev - were able to hold off the Sharks and preserve the 6-2 lead and two-point victory.

THE MOOSE GOT LOOSE FOR THE 50TH TIME

Rantanen recorded the impressive 50-goal mark for the first time ever in his career as he scored Colorado's first goal of the game in the first period for the Sharks.

The 26 year old became the first Avalanche player with 50 goals in a season since Milan Hejduk (02-03) and the fifth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to reach the milestone. Rantanen's 50th goal just happened to be scored 20-years to the day that Hejduk scored his 50th goal back in 2003.
Rantanen also became the third-ever Finnish-born player to eclipse the 50-goal plateau.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Rantanen scored his 50th, 51st and 52nd goal of the season as well as his sixth-career hat trick and third hat trick of the season. With 52 goals, Rantanen is now the third-highest goal scorer in the NHL behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid (62) and Boston's David Patrnak (57).
• MacKinnon potted his 37th goal of the season.
• Meyers recorded his second and third goals of the season.
• Georgiev made his 58th start of the season for the Avalanche, while his record improved to 37-16-5.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-1 on the power play and 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.
• Darren Helm (lower-body injury) Cale Makar (lower-body injury), Brad Hunt, Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche continue their four-game trip in California as they head to Los Angeles for a Saturday night matchup. The puck drops between the Avs and Kings at 8:30 p.m. MT.