Landeskog's hat trick leads Avalanche past Capitals
DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog scored three goals -- one on a penalty shot -- for his first career hat trick, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Thursday night.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and four assists, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots for the Avalanche (9-7-1).
Colin Wilson scored his first goal since coming over in a trade with Nashville in the offseason for Colorado.
It was Colorado's first win in Denver since trading Matt Duchene to Ottawa on Nov. 5 the day before leaving for Sweden to face the Senators in the NHL Global Series.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Brett Connolly scored and Philipp Grubauer had 22 saves for Washington.
Sam Girard, the 19-year-old defenseman acquired from Nashville in the three-way trade for Duchene, had an assist. Center Vladislav Kamenev, also from Nashville, made his Avalanche debut before leaving with a broken arm in the second period.
Their first impressions were positive until Kamenev suffered his injury on a check by Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik.
The Avalanche were playing at home for the first time since Nov. 2 and wasted no time in getting comfortable on home ice again with Landeskog's goal 17 seconds into the game.
Washington dominated most of the first, outshooting the Avalanche 11-3 in one stretch, but MacKinnon made it 2-0 with his sixth goal with 6.2 seconds left in the period.
Wilson gave Colorado a three-goal lead with his first of the season at 12:25 of the second.
Connolly scored his second goal at 18:36 to make it 3-1.
The Avalanche had a goal disallowed on goaltender interference a minute later, but Landeskog restored the three-goal cushion when he scored on a penalty shot at 4:59 of the third. He got the hat trick -- and his team-leading eighth goal -- on the power play at 19:34 of the third.
Rantanen added a power-play goal midway through the third, his sixth of the season, and Kuznetsov answered at 13:11 to make it 5-2.
NOTES: Colorado C Tyson Jost was sent to San Antonio of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. Jost has missed eight straight games with a lower-body injury. ... Washington rookie D Christian Djoos was scratched with an upper-body injury. ... Avalanche D Tyson Barrie, the team's second-leading scorer with 14 points heading into Thursday night, was scratched with an upper-body injury. Coach Jared Bednar said Barrie could be back in the lineup Saturday at Nashville. ... Capitals rookie LW Jakub Vrana was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Colorado D Patrik Nemeth (lower body) and Anton Lindholm (broken jaw) were also scratched.