Hats off to Soderberg’s first hat trick in rare win

TORONTO» Carl Soderberg had his first career hat trick and the Avalanche defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Monday night.

Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Matt Calvert also scored for Colorado, which had lost nine of its last 10 games overall (1-7-2), and seven straight in regulation on the road.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 17 shots for the Avalanche.

“We were going tonight,” Soderberg said. “I’m glad we could get a win.”

Igor Ozhiganov, Kasperi Kapanen and Mitch Marner scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 32 saves in his return to the starting lineup after missing eight games with a groin injury. Auston Matthews added two assists.

Toronto, which entered play two points up on the Boston Bruins for second in the Atlantic Division, has lost five of its last seven games.

Soderberg scored his second goal of the game with 8:15 left in the third period and added an empty net goal.

Soderberg broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third when he snapped his 14th goal of the season past Andersen off a pass from J.T. Compher after Colin Wilson won a battle behind Toronto’s net.

Toronto, which went 4-4-0 without Andersen, pulled its goalie with just under three minutes to go, but Calvert beat Matthews to a loose puck in the Colorado zone and banked a shot off the boards for his seventh of the season with 2:51 left.

Soderberg completed the hat trick by scoring into an empty net at 18:12.

With some of the fans at Scotiabank Arena booing Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner every time he touched the puck after a soft play led directly to Soderberg’s short-handed score in the second period to make it 3-2 for the visitors, Marner tied the game six minutes into the third.

The winger took a pass from Travis Dermott and ripped his 18th goal of the season and third in three games past Varlamov.

After a scoreless first, the mid- dle period featured five goals, and another that was disallowed.

Ozhiganov scored his third at 2:14 with a shot from the point through a screen fooled Varlamov.

Leafs winger Par Lindholm appeared to score at 3:32, but the goal was called back after Colorado challenged for offside.

Toronto went right back to work and scored 11 seconds after play resumed when Kapanen snapped a seven-game drought with his 15th.