EditorsNote: Stat fix 3rd graf, other tweaks
Tyson Jost notched his first career hat trick, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist and the visiting Colorado Avalanche kept rolling with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Pavel Francouz stopped 44 shots in his second career start, and Nazem Kadri and Gabriel Landeskog also scored for the Avalanche, who remain the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss. Colorado has won seven of its first eight games, with the one loss coming in overtime at Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Nathan MacKinnon, who had an assist, extended his points streaks to eight games to start the season. Colin Wilson had three assists, and J.T. Compher had two for Colorado. The Avalanche have earned seven of a possible eight points to begin their six-game road trip.
Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman scored goals, Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 18 saves for the Lightning. Tampa Bay returned home following a 3-2-1 road trip but lost despite outshooting Colorado 46-24.
The Avalanche were coming off a 5-4 overtime win over the Florida Panthers in Miami on Friday night but had a quick start against the Lightning. Jost scored 3:09 into the game when he converted a turnover into a 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay tied it late in the period on Gourde's first goal of the season, but Colorado took control with three quick goals in the second.
Jost scored his second of the night at the 3:17 mark, Landeskog made it 3-1 with his third goal of the season at 5:48 and Jost completed the hat trick with his fourth goal of the season just 18 seconds later. He and Compher got behind the Lightning defense, and Compher fed Jost for an easy tap in.
It stayed 4-1 into the third period, then Kadri got his third of the season at 6:30, and Hedman answered with his first goal at 11:48.
Rantanen added his team-leading fifth of the year at 14:27 to end the scoring.
--Field Level Media
