Lehkonen Posts First-Career Hat Trick to Help Avalanche Beat Utah 4-1, Win Fourth-Straight Game

Victory on the Road

Artturi Lehkonen posted the first hat trick of his career, Nathan MacKinnon posted three assists, and MacKenzie Blackwood made 34 saves in the Avalanche's 4-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center on Friday. The Avalanche picked up their fourth-straight victory and improved to 22-15-0 on the season.

How It Happened

Lehkonen opened the scoring from the slot at 11:52 of the second period after MacKinnon danced around a defender and sent him a centering pass.

Utah tied the game at 3:42 of the third with a power-play goal by Nick Schmaltz via a deflection on Mikhail Sergachev's wrist shot from the point.

Scoring his second of the night and 12th of the season, Lehkonen put the Avs up 2-1 at 14:44 of the third from the left doorstep off a centering feed from Valeri Nichushkin.

Mikko Rantanen doubled Colorado's lead with his 20th goal of the season at 18:10 of the third when he scored on an empty net. With that goal, Rantanen extended his point streak to 10 games.

Completing his hat trick, Lehkonen scored his 13th goal of the year with a long-range empty-net tally at 19:34 of the third.

Next Up

The Avalanche return to Denver and host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT on Altitude and Altitude+.