Kiviranta has natural hat trick, Avalanche defeat Kraken

DENVER -- Joel Kiviranta had the first regular-season hat trick of his NHL career, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-2 at Ball Arena on Sunday.

Cale Makar scored a goal and had two assists, Valeri Nichushkin scored a goal, and Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists for the Avalanche (21-15-0), who have won three straight and seven of their past nine games. Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves.

“The evolution of 'Kivi's' game, though, goes back to early last year,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “He started really digging in on his game and trying to do more on the offensive side of it, be more comfortable with the puck, and play with the puck more instead of just chip and chase all the time. He's still very responsible that way, but he started to spend a lot of time with [assistant coach] Ray [Bennett] on video and trying to take his game to another level and be more effective and more impactful on the offensive side of it.”

Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko each scored a goal for the Kraken (15-19-2), who have lost five straight, including 6-2 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

“I kind of liked how we stuck with it the whole game long,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “You got to stay in the fight, stay in the whole way, and it's a good team there, obviously. I think we gave them one or two many chances.

“I think a lot's been said. There's a lot of searching from the group, from the guys, going on, and we didn't want to use the last two games as [a] throwaway and get to the break. We wanted to take some growth as a team in these two games, and I think the effort that we put in tonight is considered growth for our group.”

Makar scored to make it 1-0 Colorado with a power-play goal at 10:05 of the first period. His wrist shot from just inside the blue line found its way through Nichushkin’s screen in front.

“When he plants himself in front of the net, it's fun for me at least because I can try and shoot it at him or shoot it around because he's got such a good stick too,” said Makar. “So that one, I was definitely shooting for his stick, but he was such a good screen…”

McCann tied it 1-1 with a wrist shot that went top shelf far side at 17:55 of the first period. Shane Wright took the puck down below red line before feeding McCann at the top of the crease for the shot.

Kakko scored his first with the Kraken to make it 2-1 with a shot off the face-off that went under the pad of Blackwood at 4:01 of the second period. Kakko was acquired by the Kraken via a trade with the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

“It feels a little better [to] get the first one out of the way, but I mean we got to win the games,” said Kakko. “That was the play after the face-off. It's kind of a heavy puck, you know hard puck off the face-off. Just came to me and I shoot it right away. I was kind of surprised, also, that it went in, but big goal for us.”

Said Blackwood: “I just didn't see it behind the body. So it just came quickly on the ice, and I was kind of waiting to see where I would see it on each side. Obviously, one you'd like to have back but can't really dwell on it in the game.”

Nichushkin evened it up 2-2 when he located the rebound of MacKinnon’s initial shot and sent it past a sprawling Daccord 11 seconds later.

“That was an incredible goal. Obviously, Val finishes that one, but unreal play by Nate weaving through the ‘D’,” Makar said. “Val great kick out on the wall to start it off, and then Nate driving through the 'D' and getting it on net to even start with. So I think that all started with him there, and Val made a really good play to finish the goal.”

Kiviranta scored to make it 3-2 with a one-timer over Daccord's glove to finish a 2-on-1 rush with Rantanen at 12:01 of the second.

“Obviously, we all know he's a great passer,” Kiviranta said of Rantanen. “When I saw that he's on a 2-on-1 with me, I knew it. Like he's going to at least try to pass it to me, and I was pretty sure about that.”

Kiviranta scored into the empty net twice, at 17:26 to make it 4-2 and at 18:28 to complete the natural hat trick for the 5-2 final.

“Hat trick is hat trick,” Kiviranta said. “It's kind of like a normal game, just [I got] three good bounces today. I'm just happy that we get these two points before the Christmas break.”

NOTES: Kiviranta recorded Colorado’s second natural hat trick of the season (Mikko Rantanen on Nov. 13). The only other team with multiple natural hat tricks in 2024-25 is Tampa Bay (Brandon Hagel on Oct. 22 and Nikita Kucherov on Oct. 11). … Makar had his 34th career three-point game. He surpassed Kris Letang for sole possession of the fourth most among active defensemen (Erik Karlsson (51), Victor Hedman (45), and Roman Josi (37)). … Rantanen extended his point streak to nine games for the fifth time in his career. The only Finnish players with as many are Teemu Selanne (14) and Jari Kurri (11). … Yanni Gourde assisted on McCann’s goal and earned his 200th career assist. He became the sixth active undrafted player to reach the milestone.