Kiefer Sherwood scored his first NHL hat trick and the host Vancouver Canucks topped the Colorado Avalanche 3-1on Monday.

The feisty winger had an even-strength goal, a short-handed goal and an empty-netter for the Canucks (16-9-5).

He now has a career-high 11 goals on the season, surpassing the 10 he amassed while playing for the Nashville Predators last year.

Valeri Nichushkin replied for the Avalanche (18-15-0) with 46 seconds left in the game. Mikko Rantanen registered an assist and stretched his point streak to six games, with three goals and nine assists across the stretch.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves for Colorado and Vancouver鈥檚 Thatcher Demko stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced.

FIRST CAREER HATTY FOR KIEFER! 馃帺馃帺馃帺

鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks)

TAKEAWAYS

Canucks: Head coach Rick Tocchet criticized his team after an ugly 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, saying there were four or five players who were 鈥渟truggling to get emotionally invested.鈥� His team responded with a physical game against the Avs, killing off four penalties, blocking 18 shots and registering 30 hits.

Avalanche: Getting held to one goal was a rare blip for a Colorado team that came into Monday鈥檚 game with wins in four of its last five contests. The Avs had outscored their opponents 18-9 across that stretch.

KEY MOMENT

Sherwood padded Vancouver鈥檚 lead with a short-handed goal 16:04 into the second period. The winger picked a puck off Nathan MacKinnon near the benches and sprinted down the ice, then put a shot up and over Blackwood鈥檚 outstretched glove to make it 2-0. Chants of 鈥淜ie-fer Sher-wood!鈥� rang out through the arena in response.

KEY STAT

Colorado went scoreless on four power-play opportunities Monday. The Avs鈥� power play is now 1-for-19 over the last seven games.

UP NEXT

Canucks: Visit the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday.

Avalanche: Visit the Sharks in San Jose on Thursday.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

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