DENVER (AP) — Andre Burakovsky notched his first career hat trick and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Sunday night.
Burakovsky got his three goals in a span of 12:05 from late in the second into the third for the Colorado’s fourth straight win. Mikko Rantanen had three assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 31 shots for the Avalanche.
Joe Thornton and Brandon Montour scored in the third period for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky had 23 saves.
Colorado was without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who will miss two weeks with a lower-body injury suffered Friday against Detroit. The Avalanche then lost defenseman Jacob MacDonald after he took a hard check from Ryan Lomberg early in the second period. MacDonald was taken off on a stretcher but the team announced he was still at the arena and was responsive.
Lomberg didn’t get a penalty on the play but it did lead to some big hits from both teams the rest of the period. The offense was held down by good goaltending by both teams and the first goal didn’t come until late in the second. Burakovsky got it when he one-timed a pass from Rantanen with 23 seconds remaining.
He made it 2-0 with a backhander 2:03 of the third, Florida had tied it with goals by Thornton and Montour 2:34 apart and Burakovsky finished the hat trick when he beat Bobrovsky with a laser from the point at 11:43.
The Panthers nearly tied it in the final minute. They had a power play and pulled Bobrovsky for a 6-on-4 but Kuemper and defenseman Erik Johnson made big stops to seal the win.
NOTES: Colorado G Pavel Francouz was recalled from the AHL and served as Kuemper’s backup. Francouz has not played since the 2020 playoffs. The Avalanche placed G Jonas Johansson on waivers. ... Panthers C Aleksander Barkov missed his second straight game and 10th in the last 11th. LW Anthony Duclair missed his second straight game. C Maxim Mamin was also scratched.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Avalanche: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
