Sporty.com | NHL: MacKinnon scores 4, has assist as Avalanche win

Nathan MacKinnon scored three of his four goals consecutively and added an assist and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and four assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-2 rout of the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

MacKinnon’s first goal of the game at 2:39 of the second period extended Colorado’s lead to 2-0, and he made it 3-0 at the 7-minute mark. He notched his third goal of the game 2:16 later and completed his second four-goal game of the season with 3:46 remaining in the third period.

MacKinnon, who drew an assist on Rantanen’s third-period goal, leads the NHL with 82 points, two more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

The Avalanche superstar extended his home point streak to 24 games to break a tie with Joe Sakic for the franchise record. MacKinnon has 11 goals and 15 assists during an overall 12-game point streak.

Cale Makar set the franchise record for goals by a defenseman with his 76th and Colorado improved to 10-1-0 in its last 11 home games.

A Mack-trick type of night #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/FZRYKg0zuk
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 25, 2024

Canucks rally to extend point streak in OT loss

Pius Suter completed his hat trick with 52 seconds left in regulation and the Vancouver Canucks pushed their point streak to 10 games with a 4-3 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Brayden Schenn scored the game-winner at 1:54 of overtime after Vancouver battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third behind Suter’s two goals.

Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist to help the Blues win their third straight.

Quinn Hughes had a pair of assists as the Canucks moved to 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and increased the league’s highest point total to 69.

Battled back to earn a point. pic.twitter.com/wrZL4Jkxbg
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 25, 2024

Hurricanes cool Bruins with late goal

Jordan Martinook scored with 2 ½ minutes remaining and Spencer Martin made 26 saves to win his Hurricanes debut as Carolina ended the Boston Bruins’ six-game winning streak, 3-2.

Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period on goals by Brad Marchand, but Martinook beat Linus Ullmark on a breakaway for the winner.

Martin Necas and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won five straight road games.

Marchand’s goals gave him 395, tying him with Ray Bourque for fifth on the team’s all-time list. Bourque scored 395 of his 410 career goals with the Bruins.