Lehkonen gets 1st NHL hat trick, Avalanche defeat Utah

Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and Rantanen scored for the Avalanche (22-15-0), who have won four straight and eight of their last 10. Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves.

“They’ve always played us tough. Their team is coming (along). Lots of young, talented players,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I think it’s our best hockey rink, too.

“I think we’re going to be more consistent, more dialed in, more committed to the way we’re going to play all the time.”

Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves and Nick Schmaltz scored for Utah (16-13-6), which has lost three straight after winning four straight.

“We played against a really good team that was ready to play. They played hard, Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “With those guys, year after year, we go toe-to-toe pretty well. I think it’s a good matchup. There’s intensity and there’s emotion on both sides. We did pretty well this year against them, if you look on the quality of the team they have, but unfortunately it’s a big game we wanted.”

Lehkonen scored to make it 1-0 Colorado when he scooped in MacKinnon’s centering pass from the top of the box at 1:00 p.m. 11:52 in the second period.

“I basically drove the net and tried to find some space there and Nate made a heck of a pass there, like through two people. So I basically had a tap-in,” Lehkonen said. “That’s the kind of player he is . You just have to have your stick on the ice and good things will happen when you play with him.”

Schmaltz tied the game at 1-1 at 3:42 of the third period with a power-play goal. He deflected Mikhail Sergachev’s point shot at the top of the crease. Colorado had killed 16 consecutive penalties before the goal.

“It’s a one-shot game. It’s a good hockey game,” Schmaltz said. “We fought hard and it’s unfortunate to give up one late in the third there. Wasn’t able to convert on the 6- mod-5.