Jost gets first hat trick for Avalanche in win against Lightning

TAMPA -- Tyson Jost had his first NHL hat trick, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their season-opening point streak to eight games with a 6-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, Colin Wilson had three assists, and Pavel Francouz made 44 saves for Colorado (7-0-1), which is the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.
"It feels awesome. It's pretty special," Jost said. "It's kind of something you always dream about as a kid playing in your backyard. It felt really special. It was an awesome moment."
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Lightning highlights]
Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves for Tampa Bay (4-3-1).
Jost made it 1-0 at 3:09 of the first period with a one-timer off a pass from Samuel Girard.
Gourde tied the game 1-1 at 17:35 with a redirection of Ryan McDonagh's shot.
Jost gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 3:17 of the second period, scoring short side on Vasilevskiy from the left face-off circle.
"In this league, you've got to play a full 60 minutes, and tonight we took a couple of minutes off, and they capitalized on their chances," Lightning center Anthony Cirelli said. "Obviously, we got a lot of shots, 40-plus or whatever, and their goalie made some saves."
Gabriel Landeskog made it 3-1 at 5:48 of the second with a redirection of Nathan MacKinnon's shot, and Jost completed the hat trick 18 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-1 at 6:06.

"[J.T. Compher and I] did a great job in the neutral zone on the defensive side of things, and that led to rushes," Jost said. "J.T. made a great pass, great vision, he found me, I just had to get the shot off quick."
Nikita Kucherov missed the net on a penalty shot at 5:06 of the third period.
"It was a great challenge," Francouz said. "Of course, I was a little bit nervous about the game, but I was trying to see it as fun. It was a fun night."

Nazem Kadri scored from the high slot at 4-on-4 to make it 5-1 at 6:30 of the third.
"I think we did a good job," Landeskog said. "Obviously, that second period we had a stretch of six minutes where we scored three goals or whatever it was."
Hedman redirected a shot by Kevin Shattenkirk at 11:48 to cut it to 5-2, but Rantanen scored with a backhand while cutting across the slot at 14:27 to make it 6-2.
"Sometimes it turns into a game of mistakes, and the team that makes the most usually pays the price," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I can't sit here and say we made the most mistakes, but the ones we did make, it seemed like they put in the back of the net."

They said it

"We had some big nights from some guys. The [Tyson] Jost line, for me, was outstanding, especially in the first half of the game. Those guys were a big difference maker tonight." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"We gave up too many chances, and they are a team that makes you pay." -- Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk

Need to know

MacKinnon (four goals, seven assists) and Rantanen (five goals, seven assists) each extended his season-opening point streak to eight games. … McDonagh was minus-4. … Compher had the primary assist on Jost's second and third goals. ... Referee Kelly Sutherland left in the first period because of an undisclosed injury and was kept out for the remainder the game for precautionary reasons.

What's next

Avalanche:At the St. Louis Blues on Monday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-MW, ALT, NHL.TV)
Lightning:Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN)