Landeskog’s hat trick powers Colorado
Coming off Nathan MacKinnon’s recordbreaking game Tuesday at the Rangers, the Avalanche had grown used to the Hart Trophy finalist’s goal production through the first six contests of the season. But with fellow forward Gabe Landeskog taking charge of Colorado’s offensive production Thursday at the NHL’s lone remaining undefeated team, MacKinnon’s first goalless game of the year nearly went unnoticed.
Headlining a 53 road victory over the Devils, Landeskog notched his first hat trick of the season, capping his explosive night with a goahead strike to break a 33 tie with 3:22 remaining, onetiming Mikko Rantanen’s pass from behind the net.
“He’s such a huge part of our win tonight,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “You fall behind in the third period, and he manages to grind out two goals, coming to the net, doing everything right and playing to his identity. I loved his game tonight, right from the getgo.”
Rantanen registered three assists — all coming off Landeskog’s hat trick — to give him a leagueleading 11 on the year. He also added his second goal of the season (with one hand, no less) against an empty net with 12 seconds left in the game, handing the Devils (410) their first loss of the year.
“I think he had our team focused tonight, and I thought we were the aggressors to start the game,” Bednar said. “It was a good, backandforth hockey game with some ups and downs. But our team stuck with it, and it has a lot to do with his leadership, and we found a way to win.”
Despite their hard skating early, Colorado (412) found itself in a 10 hole entering the second period after Devils forward Nico Hischier scored his first of the season off a late power play. But the Avs’ speed and grit eventually paid off in a penaltyheavy second period.
Sven Andrighetto, making his season debut, notched the equalizer just 1:16 into the frame, sneaking one past New Jersey goalie Keith Kinkaid just inside the right edge. Alexander Kerfoot and Ian Cole were credited with the assists.
Less than six minutes later in Colorado’s second power play opportunity of the evening, Landeskog kicked off his big night with a slap shot inside the upper left corner to give the Avalanche a 21 advantage. MacKinnon and Rantanen assisted the forward with his second power play score of the year.
New Jersey gave Colorado three more powerplay opportunities before the second intermission, but the Avalanche couldn’t build upon their lead before losing it via Taylor Hall’s first goal of the year with 4:18 left in the second.
The Devils started to steal the game’s momentum as they neutralized an early Avalanche power play before Brian Boyle deflected a shot past Philip Grubauer from Kyle Palmieri with 13:38 remaining.
But less than two minutes later, Landeskog positioned himself for a deflection goal of his own, coming off a shot from Rantanen. The NHL’s assist leader found the Colorado captain one last time to keep the squad out of extra time for the third consecutive game.