Avalanche stay hot with win against Jets

DENVER --Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen combined to score 12 points for the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Ball Arena on Thursday.

"I thought right out of the gate they were involved physically, real assertive on loose pucks," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "They checked and got rewarded for their hard work. They were a hardworking line tonight."
Landeskog had a hat trick and an assist, MacKinnon had a goal and four assists, and Rantanen had a goal and two assists for Colorado (20-8-2), which is 9-1-1 in its past 11 games and tied its record with its 10th straight home win. Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves.
"We're looking to be a consistent line for hopefully 82 games this year," MacKinnon said. "We know our roles on the line. Each of us has a different one, which makes us very tough to play against. So far, it's been good."

Mark Scheifele scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for Winnipeg (16-12-5), which had won three in a row.
"They're one of the best lines in the League," Jets forward Adam Lowry said of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen. "All three of them are elite, they're elite at different things and they complement each other extremely well. With an active back end like Colorado has, it seems like they come at you with four or five guys. They always seem to know where each other is and they can create those chances."
Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:56 of the first period, scoring off a big rebound in the left circle after Andrew Copp redirected Neal Pionk's point shot.
Nazem Kadri tied 1-1 at 16:20 with a deflection of Erik Johnson's point shot.
"We did a lot of really good things (in the first)," Winnipeg coach Dave Lowry said. "We executed on the power play, we managed the game, we got the pucks in and we had some good chances. There was a lot to like coming out of 20 minutes."
Landeskog put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 5:20 of the second period on the power play. MacKinnon passed across to Rantanen, whose one-timer in the right circle deflected off the glove of Hellebuyck and was knocked in by Landeskog in the crease.
"They score the power-play goal," Dave Lowry said. "It gave them some life and gave them some momentum."
Rantanen increased the lead to 3-1 at 10:28 when he drove to the net and finished five-hole on a rebound.

Landeskog made it 4-1 at 15:21, shooting blocker side near the left hash marks after Scheifele couldn't clear away a rebound.
"When we play the right way and take care of our end first, for us that's the recipe to win hockey games, making sure we take care of the defensive side of things first," Landeskog said. "Offensively, we know we have enough skill and systems in place to score goals."
MacKinnon pushed it to 5-1 at 12:17 of the third period. He spun around Kyle Connor into the left circle for a shot blocker side.
MacKinnon has scored 23 points (three goals, 20 assists) during a 12-game point streak.
"Obviously, I want to score more goals, definitely, but a lot of my assists have come just from shooting," he said. "I'm trying to make plays, but I still want to generate a ton of shots and hopefully try to find some more goals. I have four (in 20 games this season), which isn't fantastic, but it's not only about that. I try to help in a lot of different ways."

Landeskog completed his fourth NHL hat trick at 17:10 when he put in the rebound of Mikko Rantanen's shot on a power play. Bowen Byram then scored another power-play goal, this time during a 4-on-3, with 11 seconds left for the 7-1 final.
"It [stinks] to be blown out like that," Scheifele said. "We've got six days of practice before our next one (at the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 13). Hopefully we can get some guys healthy and off the COVID protocol. Lots of time to work on some stuff and fix some stuff, and we have to take advantage of it."
NOTES:Jets forward Paul Stastny was scratched because of an undisclosed injury. … Scheifele has scored six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak … The Avalanche have previously won 10 straight home games three times, most recently Dec. 29, 2017-Feb. 14, 2018. Their last home loss was 5-4 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 3. … Rantanen has scored 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his past nine games … Kadri has scored 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) during a personal 10-game point streak.