Eurolanche

Kreider's hattrick gets Rangers past Avs

Chris Kreider had the second hat trick of his NHL career to help the New York Rangers defeat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 at Pepsi Center on Saturday.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for his 390th win to pass Dominik Hasek for the most by a European-born goalie in NHL history.

Kreider completed his hat trick at 14:20 of the second period for a 4-2 lead when he tipped in Derek Stepan's shot on a power play for his 15th goal.

J.T. Miller scored his second of the game and 12th of the season to give New York a 5-2 lead at 9:34 of the third, and Jimmy Vesey followed with his 11th goal at 13:05.

The line of Kreider, Stepan and Mats Zuccarello combined for three goals and four assists, with Stepan and Zuccarello each contributing two assists.

The Rangers (26-12-1) have won three games in a row and are 9-3-0 in their past 12.

The Avalanche (12-23-1) have lost 10 consecutive home games (0-9-1) since a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 15.

Miller put the Rangers ahead 3-2 at 9:30 of the second period with a shot from the top of the left circle by goalie Calvin Pickard's glove.

The Avalanche tied the game 2-2 at 18:34 of the first when Blake Comeau deflected in defenseman Francois Beauchemin's shot from the blue line for his sixth goal.

Cody McLeod scored his first to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:59 with a deflection of defenseman Tyson Barrie's point shot.

Kreider scored twice in the first period for New York. Stepan's pass from the right corner went off Kreider in front at 6:09 to tie the game 1-1. Kreider redirected Zuccarello's shot by Pickard for a power-play goal at 16:39 for a 2-1 Rangers lead.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --