PITTSBURGH – Mikko Rantanen scored his 10th career hat trick and added two assists as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Rantanen, playing in his 600th game, knocked a puck past Tristan Jarry late in the first period, beat Jarry from close range early in the second period and added an empty-net shot on goal in the third period.

Nathan MacKinnon contributed a goal and four assists for Colorado. Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen also scored for the Avalanche.

Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves for Colorado’s third win in four starts. Goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood, acquired Monday in a deal with San Jose, was injured due to an illness.

Michael Bunting scored his seventh goal for Pittsburgh. Cody Glass received his first of the season. Jarry stopped 21 shots for the Penguins, who lost for just the second time in seven games.

Takeaways

Avalanche: Colorado is starting to find its footing. The Avalanche are 11-5 in their last 16 games after going 4-1 during their five-game season road trip.

Penguins: Even though Jarry and backup Alex Nedeljkovic have enjoyed recent resurgence, Pittsburgh has hardly been out of the woods in net. Jarry was shaking on the ice and Nedeljkovic took a puck under his right eye as he watched from the bench. Nedeljkovic briefly left the pitch and returned to the bench with stitches and significant swelling.

Key moment

The Penguins had cut Colorado’s lead to one when Nichushkin picked off Pittsburgh’s Marcus Pettersson at the middle-ice boards and dove in to beat Jarry, extending the Colorado lead to 3:23 in the third period.

Key statistics

2 – the number of Finnish-born players with more points in 600 games than Rantanen’s 659: Hall of Famers Jari Kurri (848) and Teemu Selanne (756).

Next

The Avalanche host Utah on Thursday. The Penguins visit Montreal on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl