Mikko Rantanen gets his third hat trick of the year, Avs now rolling

The Colorado Avalanche have played 30 games this season, and forward Mikko Rantanen has three hat tricks.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Rantanen tallied three goals in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night against the Penguins, and the Avs cruised to a 6-2 win. Rantanen’s third puck to find the back of the goal was against an empty net late, putting the nail in Pittsburgh’s coffin.

It's that 600th game magic 🍀

Mikko Rantanen nets his third hatty of the season pic.twitter.com/mQDaK25Kz7

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 11, 2024

Rantanen’s first hat trick of the year came in the season opener, an ugly loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. His second one happened against the Kings last month, a 4-2 Colorado win. And this one against the Penguins has Rantanen eyeing some history this year.

It’s tied for the most in a single season for an Avalanche player since the team moved to Colorado in the mid-1990s. The franchise record is four in a year, done by Peter Stastny in 1982-83 and Miroslav Frycer in 1981-82. One more hat trick for Rantanen and he’ll own the Avalanche record, and tie Stastny and Frycer who did it with the Quebec Nordiques.

And don’t look now, but the Avs are rolling. The victory sealed a 4-1 East Coast road trip and Colorado is now 17-13-0 on the season. Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin also scored, and goaltender Scott Wedgewood stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced.

Wedgewood will be the Avalanche’s primary backup the rest of the way, after the team acquired Mackenzie Blackwood from the Sharks on Monday, but he’s looked sharp in limited duty. GM Chris MacFarland totally overhauled the goalie room, shipping out Justus Annunen and Alexandar Georgiev and bringing in Wedgewood and Blackwood.

Right now, things are clicking. Mikko Rantanen and the improved goaltending are big reasons why, and the Avs feel like they’re on the verge of getting hot.