Andre Burakovsky cannot be stopped.
The Avalanche winger scored a hat trick Sunday night, the first of his NHL career, for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Burakovsky has accounted for five goals over his past two games. He downplayed that personal success.
“I’m just happy to be producing,” Burakovsky said. “Today was a lucky day for me.”
The Avalanche (16-7-2) put on a defensive clinic to start the night. Florida’s first shot on goal didn’t arrive until 12:15 into the game. But the hard-charging Avalanche offense — with goals in 14 consecutive regulation periods entering Sunday — finally stalled out.
The second period began scoreless with a frightening sequence for Jacob MacDonald.
The Avs defenseman was knocked out and motionless on the ice after taking a brutal hit (shoulder-to-chin) from Florida winger Ryan Lomberg. MacDonald was removed from the game on a stretcher by athletic training staff and did not return. The Avalanche later announced MacDonald was “alert, responsive and has full movement” while undergoing further medical evaluation.
“A scary moment. But he’s seen our trainers and everything is going good,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I think (the hit) might have been clean. … Physicality is part of the game but I don’t love seeing guys go down, especially when they can’t get up.”
Colorado broke through on its 18th shot of the night — with 22.5 seconds left in the second period — when Burakovsky buried a feed from Mikko Rantanen on a power-play chance. It marked the 200th career NHL assist for Rantanen. Burakovsky netted another goal in the third to lead 2-0.
The Panthers clawed back. Florida tied the game midway into the final period, over a stretch of less than three minutes, with goals from Joe Thornton and Brandon Montour.
Burakovsky scored the game-winner later in the third with a snipe from the high slot. He now has 12 goals on the season.
“(Burakovsky) has an unbelievable shot and he was obviously using it tonight,” Avalanche starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper said. “It’s great to see him get rewarded. Those were all great plays. Whenever you score three goals in a game, you’re doing something right. That was huge for us.”
Kuemper finished the night with 31 saves. His biggest test was a hectic final sequence under heavy pressure. Defenseman Erik Johnson laid out for a critical stick-save in the last seconds to preserve the win.
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