Photo: The Canadian Press

DENVER (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the third period to complete his ninth career hat trick, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Rantanen’s goal at 10:01, his second of the night, gave Colorado the lead in the third and he added an empty-net goal with 1:59 remaining for his second hat trick of the season. Artturi Lehkonen also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 13 saves for the Avalanche.

Nathan MacKinnon, who had three assists, had at least one point in 16 of 17 games this season and in all 10 home games.

Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves before leaving early in the third period with an apparent injury. David Rittich finished with three saves.

Adrian Kempe scored two goals, including one after 32 seconds of play, for the Kings. Lehkonen tied it at 3:40 of the first period, but Kempe scored again on a Colorado turnover with 4:09 left in the first period.

Rantanen tied it with 3:53 left in the second.

Takeaways

Kings: Did not record a shot on goal in the second period. Kevin Fiala’s breakaway shot rang off the right post midway, then Los Angeles got its first shot in more than 23 minutes 55 seconds into the third.

Avalanche: The power play struggled all night. Colorado didn’t have a shot on goal on its first three power plays and struggled to generate momentum.

Key moment

Logan O’Connor battled two Kings players along the boards before MacKinnon collected the puck and fed it to Rantanen, and he beat Rittich to give Colorado the lead.

Key statistic

Jared Bednar coached in his 635th game with the Avalanche, breaking a tie with Michel Bergeron for the most games in franchise history.

To be continued

The Kings host Detroit on Saturday and the Avalanche host Washington on Friday to complete a four-game homestand.

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