DENVER -- Mikko Rantanen scored three times for his first career hat trick, Calvin Pickard stopped 27 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Andreas Martinsen added a goal as the last-place Avalanche posted back-to-back wins for the first time since November. Even more, it's the first time all season they've won two straight at home.
Pickard picked up his second shutout of the season, withstanding a late flurry at the end. He also had an assist.
All-Star goaltender Carey Price wasn't sharp early, giving up two quick goals, and the Canadiens never recovered. This after routing Colorado 10-1 on Dec. 10 in Montreal (see full recap).
Flames edge Crosby, Penguins in shootout
PITTSBURGH -- Kris Versteeg scored the only goal in the shootout and the Calgary Flames recovered after a furious third-period rally by the Pittsburgh Penguins to get a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.
Chad Johnson stopped 31 shots in regulation and then turned away Pittsburgh's Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby in the shootout. The Penguins' Kris Letang hit the post on his team's final attempt.
Michael Frolik scored his 13th goal of the season and Micheal Ferland added his eighth as Calgary picked up two valuable points in the crowded chase for one of the final playoff spots in the wide-open Western Conference.
NHL
Crosby inched closer to becoming the 86th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points when he assisted on Chris Kunitz's third-period goal for career point No. 999. Rookie forward Jake Guentzel forced overtime with his fifth of the season with just under five minutes remaining. Matt Murray made 28 saves but had no chance on Versteeg's beautiful deke in the shootout (see full recap).
Red-hot Capitals blast Hurricanes
WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin got his 26th goal of the season, Braden Holtby gave the Capitals another steady performance in net and Washington beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Tuesday night for its fourth straight victory.
Brett Connolly, Lars Eller, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson also scored for Washington, which picked up its second consecutive shutout. Holtby stopped 23 shots in an easy outing two days after backup Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves to shut out the Los Angeles Kings.
Holtby's seventh shutout of the season ties him with the Kings' Peter Budaj for the NHL lead. It's his fourth in 12 games.
With goaltender Eddie Lack making his first start since Nov. 6 after being plagued by concussion problems, the Hurricanes couldn't mount much of an attack to support him. Lack allowed five goals on 28 shots as Carolina's winning streak ended at three (see full recap).