Rantanen scores 3rd in OT, Avs rally past Blues
ST. LOUIS – Mikko Rantanen scored in the final seconds of regulation and the first minute of overtime to complete his fifth career hat trick and give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
“We’re missing a lot of guys, a lot of veteran guys, especially up front,” Rantanen said. “I try to do my best, and even little bit more, in this situation. We need a lot to win games, and tonight was one of those.”
Rantanen’s second goal of the game came with nine seconds left in regulation, forcing the extra period. He sealed the comeback win 29 seconds into overtime. Pavel Francouz made 30 saves and the Avalanche snapped a five-game winless streak.
“I liked our competitiveness all night,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It wasn’t the perfect game from us by any stretch, but I did like the way we competed, the way we stuck with it. I think everyone was emotionally invested in the game.”
Vladimir Tarasenko and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, losers of eight of their last 10 games. Jordan Binnington stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Blues, who had allowed four goals in nine straight games.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes when things aren’t going well,” Blues coach Craig Berube said.
“It’s a good point. I thought we did a lot of good things.”
Rantanen scored his 19th of the season early in OT when he pushed the rebound of a shot by Cale Makar past Binnington, completing his second hat trick of the season.
Columbus 6, Los Angeles 5: Johnny Gaudreau scored 40 seconds into overtime for the host Blue Jackets for their second straight win. Jack Roslovic had two goals and two assists, Patrik Laine had a goal and two assists, and Boone Jenner and rookie Kirill Marchenko also scored for the Blue Jackets. Anze Kopitar scored twice, and Blake Lizotte, Jaret Anderson-Dolan
and Adrian Kemp also had goals for the Kings, who earned a point after rallying from two two-goal deficits.
Seattle 5, Florida 2: Andre Burakovsky scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period for the visiting Kraken. Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle, Daniel Sprong and Yanni Gourde also scored to help Seattle snap a three-game losing streak. Eric Staal and Chris Tierney scored for the Panthers, who have lost two straight and three of four. Sergei Bobrovsky had 27 saves while starting for the second straight night with Spencer Knight out due to illness.
Predators forward Michael McCarron enters assistance program
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron has entered the player assistance program of the NHL and NHL Players’ Association.
The league and the union announced the move Sunday without specifying why McCarron entered the program.