Rantanen has hat trick, Avalanche defeat Sharks to keep pace in Central

SAN JOSE -- Mikko Rantanen had his third hat trick of the season to reach 52 goals for the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Thursday.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, Ben Meyers scored twice, and Alexandar Georgiev made 21 saves for the Avalanche (47-24-6), who have won six of seven, including 4-3 in overtime here Tuesday.
Colorado is tied with the Dallas Stars, who defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 earlier Thursday, for first in the Central Division with a game in hand. It moved two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild, who lost 4-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"The standings are really tight, so we're pushing for first place in our division," Rantanen said. "It's been good lately, but you still have tough teams to face."

Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist to increase his season total to 98 points for the Sharks (22-40-16), who had a four-game point streak end (3-0-1). Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before being pulled 8:06 into the second period. James Reimer made 10 saves in relief.
"They're the defending Stanley Cup champions and they're just better than we are," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "At the end of the day, talent caught up to us over a two-game series. That's all that happened, really."
Karlsson gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 15:43 of the first period, scoring from the slot on a rebound of Kevin Labanc's shot from the blue line.
Rantanen tied it 1-1 at 16:45 on the rebound of a shot by MacKinnon, who skated between two defenders for a backhand. It was his 50th goal of the season.
"I'm sure it's probably been on his mind here for a little bit," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We're happy for him. He's put in the work to become an elite goal-scorer in this league, and then to see him hit 50 is pretty special."
Rantanen put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 2:32 of the second period when Evan Rodrigues carried the puck from behind the net and passed to Rantanen, who scored on a backhand.
MacKinnon extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:19 before Rantanen completed his sixth NHL hat trick to make it 4-1 at 8:06.
"[I] play with good teammates and good linemates," Rantanen said. "They're making good plays for me to score, like today. It's just fun to share it with them, for sure."

Steven Lorentz cut it to 4-2 at 8:41 with an angled shot from the left following a Karlsson pass from the high slot.
"It's world-class every time," Lorentz said of the pass. "It's at the point where [if we're] in the [offensive] zone and I go out there for a face-off with him, I tell the wingers, 'Just let Erik do his thing.'"
Meyers made it 5-2 when Matt Nieto stole the puck in the neutral zone and Meyers shot five-hole from the slot.
"You need that secondary scoring," Bednar said. "You need all lines contributing, and [Meyers] certainly did that tonight."
Alex Newhook sent a cross from the right that went in off Meyers skate at the left post at 3:12 of the third period for the 6-2 final.
NOTES:Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury but will travel with them for their game at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. He recently missed nine games in a 10-game stretch from Feb. 9-March 1 with a concussion, and four games with an upper-body injury from Jan. 18-24. ... Rantanen is the fifth different Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques player to score 50 goals in a season and first since Milan Hejduk had 50 in 2002-03. … The Avalanche won their eighth straight road game, dating to March 13, and their 26th road win ties their season record from 2013-14. … MacKinnon has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in the past five games. …… Karlsson has the second-most points in a season in Sharks history (Joe Thornton, 114, 2006-07). … Sharks forward Adam Raska had five hits in 12:13 in his season debut after being called up from San Jose of the American Hockey League earlier Thursday.