In Newark, Mikko Rantanen completed a hat trick with 16 seconds left in the game with the New Jersey Devils to seal a 5-2 win for the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. 
“I’ve had some offensive struggles, but I got the bounces today,” Rantanen said. “You just have to keep grinding to get your chances. You know it’s going to come at some point and tonight was the night. But it was a great team effort, everyone was playing well.”
Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves to get the win.
“I thought the MacKinnon line was just average in the first, so we flipped the lines and put Rantanen with them and they scored a couple goals in that period right away,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought Mikko was a driving force to our offense tonight for sure.”
Jesper Boqvist and Blake Coleman scored for the Devils.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Ian Cole had single markers for the Avs.
“It was a tough matchup and they had some juice in the third, but we finished the game hard and played good defense and [Grubauer] was good in net,” Rantanen said. “When we’re at our best, we play fast and support each other. We have guys coming close to each other, and on the forecheck we’re heavy and hard, and when there’s a loose puck we win those battles like we did these last two games. … That’s when we’re winning games.”
[WATCH:Â All Avalanche vs. Devils highlights]
Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves in the loss.
“We weren’t able to sustain any offense and their game feeds off that speed and transition,” New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri said. “We didn’t establish any offensive-zone time, and they are a very good rush team. When you feed their rush, that’s how they get confidence and start feeling good about themselves.”
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