Hornqvist ruins rally

P I TTSBURGH» There isn’t a lot of finesse in Patric Hornqvist’s game. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward understands his job is to get to the places on the ice that not everyone wants to go, set up camp there and make something happen.

His team in serious need of a kick-start after squandering a three-goal lead against whitehot Colorado, Hornqvist provided one.

Well, three, actually. Hornqvist recorded the fastest hat trick in franchise history on Tuesday night, beating Semyon Varlamov three times in a span of 2:47 in the third period as the Penguins pulled away for a 6-3 victory.

“You know what, the two last ones, they were lucky ones,’ Hornqvist said after boosting his season goal total to 12. “You have one of those days sometimes, the puck is just coming right on your stick, you don’t think you’ll shoot and if you don’t know where to go I don’t think the goalie does either.”

The Avalanche roared back from a 3-0 deficit by dominating the second period behind goals from Tyson Barrie, Carl Soderberg and Matt Nieto.

The Penguins spend much of the second period chasing the younger, faster Avalanche before Hornqvist went to work.

“We couldn’t really stop the bleeding (in the second), but you know what? We have a good group of guys in here and I think this is the turning point of our season,” Hornqvist said. “It’s a great third period and (if we) just keep building every single day from this day on and we’ll be fine.”

Hornqvist’s record-setting run began in typical Hornqvist fashion. The 31-year-old Swede parked himself in front of Varlamov, corralled a rebound off a Kris Letang shot, jabbed at the puck once before spinning around and whipping it by the goaltender 6:11 in the third to put Pittsburgh back in front.

He needed just 1:21 to double the Penguins’ advantage and completed the hat trick on his next shift when he fired a wrist shot from the slot that appeared to hit off Colorado’s Alexander Kerfoot and sneak past Varlamov.

“He plays the game so hard,” Sullivan said. “He takes so many cross checks and he goes to the dirty areas and he competes. He just wants to win. He’s such a competitive guy and tonight he had a great night for us.”