Rantanen Posts Hat Trick in 600th NHL Game and MacKinnon Records 600th Assist As Avalanche Beat Penguins 6-2

A Night of Milestones in Pittsburgh

Mikko Rantanen scored his third hat trick of the season in his 600th NHL game and Nathan MacKinnon posted his 600th-career assist as the Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. With the win, the Avs improved to 17-13-0 and posted a 4-1-0 record on their road trip.

"Whenever you can finish off a road trip like this, a long, hard one [against] these good teams and go 4-1, [that's] pretty impressive from our guys," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "And more importantly for me, it's the way we're playing now [with] the habits and putting some things together here. And the guys are trying to build on it on a nightly basis."

How It Happened

Scoring his 10th goal of the season, MacKinnon put the Avs on the board first at 6:31 of the opening period with a left-circle wrist shot, racing down the ice after receiving Rantanen's chip feed off the boards. With the goal, MacKinnon and Rantanen factored on the same goal for the 326nd time, passing Anton and Peter Stastny for the most by a duo in Avalanche/Nordiques history.

"He's [the] best player in the world," Rantanen said about MacKinnon. "And [he's] making plays every night. [He's] playing hard and [he's] very dedicated to get better every day. And again, tonight he was on his game and making plays. [He] got the early goal for us which was huge for us. It's fun to play with him."

Rantanen doubled Colorado's lead with his 16th goal of the season when he chipped the puck over Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry's pads from the left doorstep after receiving Cale Makar's nifty pass at 18:22 of the first period.

"Obviously the win is the biggest thing," Rantanen said when asked about his five-point night. "We got the two points in the standings and [I'm] glad obviously if I can help the team win. And guys were making good plays around me and finishing plays."

The Burgundy and Blue took a 3-0 lead at 5:46 of the second when Rantanen scored his second of the night and 17th of the season via a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.

At 7:21 of the second, Cody Glass put the Penguins on the board with a right-circle wrist shot.

Michael Bunting put Pittsburgh within a goal at 18:53 of the middle frame with a shot from the slot.

Valeri Nichushkin doubled the Avs' lead with his seventh goal of the season at 3:23 of the third period when he drove to the net down the right-wing side and slid the puck past Jarry's right pad.

Artturi Lehkonen put the Avalanche up 5-2 with a shot at the right doorstep off Rantanen's centering feed from below the goal line at 12:21 of the third.

Rantanen completed his hat trick on when he scored on an empty net for his 18th goal of the season at 15:08 of the third to give the Avs a 6-2 lead. With an assist on the goal, MacKinnon recorded his fourth assist of the night and the 600th of his career.

"If he sees an opening and gets a chance, he makes a play," Bednar said about MacKinnon. "And that he does on a consistent basis."

Next Up

The Avalanche begin a two-game homestand on Thursday when they play the Utah Hockey Club at 7 p.m. MT on Altitude, My20, and Altitude+.