Maple Leafs 8, Avalanche 3

Auston Matthews scored three goals for his fourth career hat trick and the streaking Toronto Maple Leafs thumped the Colorado Avalanche 8-3 on Wednesday night.

John Tavares had a goal and two assists for Toronto (17-6-1), while William Nylander scored one and set up another. Jack Campbell made 28 saves.

Jason Spezza, Travis Dermott and Pierre Engvall had the other goals for the Maple Leafs, who have won five straight games and are 15-2-0 over their last 17.

Michael Bunting added three assists, while Mitch Marner and Alexander Kerfoot had two apiece.

Nazem Kadri had two goals and Samuel Girard also scored for Colorado (11-7-1). Jonas Johansson stopped 33 shots as the Avalanche lost for the second time in three games after winning six in a row.

Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon, who had two assists, returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

Kadri suited up as a visitor in Toronto for the second time since being traded to Colorado in July 2019.

The Avalanche announced shortly before the game that No. 1 goalie Darcy Kuemper (upper-body injury) — announced as Wednesday’s starter by coach Jared Bednar following the morning skate — was unavailable.

That meant University of Toronto netminder Jett Alexander dressed as Johansson’s emergency backup for warmups, but the 22-year-old from Bloomfield, Ontario, remained in the locker-room area until third-stringer Justus Annunen arrived at Scotiabank Arena in time to start the second period on Colorado’s bench.

Coming off a four-game road trip that saw them sweep the New York Islanders and all three California teams, the Leafs went up 1-0 at 4:31 of the first period when Tavares delicately fed a pass ahead to Nylander, who ripped his 10th goal of the season past Johansson’s glove.

Toronto made it 2-0 at 7:57 as Spezza tapped home his fifth when the Colorado netminder could only get a piece of Nick Ritchie’s initial shot.

The Leafs went up by three at 14:24 when Matthews — minus his trademark moustache after shaving it off for charity — took a feed in front from Marner and went between the legs and back against the grain to roof his team-leading 11th goal, and fourth in as many games.

Colorado got on the board with 1.2 seconds left in the period when Girard fired a one-timer past Campbell for his second.

The NHL’s second star in November after going 9-2-0 with a league-leading .959 save percentage, Campbell made a number of big stops early in the second period as Colorado started to tilt the ice.

But the Avalanche finally broke through at 11:57 when Kadri — the league’s third star last month thanks to 21 points in 10 games — swept his eighth past Campbell.

The Leafs got that one back 47 seconds later when Dermott’s one-timer went off a Colorado stick in front and beat Johansson upstairs for his first of the season.

Campbell then made terrific saves on Logan O’Connor and Alex Newhook in quick succession before Tavares slipped his own rebound through Johansson for his 11th to match Matthews and push Toronto’s lead back to three.

Matthews retook top spot on the Leafs’ stats page when he collected a pass from Marner in tight before outwaiting Johansson for his 12th just 46 seconds into third.

And the Leafs sniper and reigning Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy winner then fired in his third of the night at 8:41 on a shot that beat the Colorado netminder shortside.

Engvall added his third from almost the same spot at 10:08 to make it 8-2.

Kadri tipped his ninth — and the 200th of his career — past Campbell at 16:36.

Toronto’s 21 goals over the last four games match the team’s entire output in October when the Leafs got off to a scuffling start.

Red Wings 4, Kraken 3 (SO)

Adam Erne scored the decisive goal in a shootout and Detroit won its fourth straight game by beating Seattle.

Detroit took the shootout 2-1, with Dylan Larkin also converting.

Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov and Lucas Raymond scored in regulation for the Red Wings.

Ryan Donato had two goals and Vince Dunn scored the other for the Kraken.

Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for Detroit in his 150th career victory. Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 23 shots.

Canucks 6, Senators 2

J.T. Miller scored and added two assists to lead Vancouver over skidding Ottawa.

Luke Schenn, Tyler Motte, Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat and Alex Chiasson also had goals for the Canucks, who finished a 2-3-0 road trip. Quinn Hughes had four assists and Thatcher Demko made 19 saves.

Adam Gaudette scored in his Senators debut after being claimed on waivers from Chicago. Brady Tkachuk also had a goal for Ottawa, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 29 shots.

Ottawa went 1-10-1 in November and is mired in a six-game losing streak.

Oilers 5, Penguins 2

Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, Zach Hyman scored twice and Edmonton defeated Pittsburgh.

Kailer Yamamoto and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers (16-5-0), who won their third game in a row and improved to 9-1-0 on home ice despite getting outshot 34-22.

Jake Guentzel and Teddy Blueger each had a goal for the Penguins (10-8-5), who have lost three straight. Pittsburgh was 15-0-4 in its previous 19 games against the Oilers.

Ducks 6, Golden Knights 5

Troy Terry scored his 15th goal during Anaheim’s four-goal second period, and Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano had three assists apiece in a victory over Vegas.

Rickard Rakell, Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm also scored in the second period for the Ducks, who have won 11 of 15 after back-to-back victories over Pacific Division rivals Los Angeles and Vegas.

Jamie Drysdale scored in the third period and Isac Lundestrom added a shorthanded empty-net goal for Anaheim. Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves.

Max Pacioretty and Mattias Janmark had a goal and an assist apiece for the Golden Knights, who have lost three of four. Robin Lehner stopped 28 shots and repeatedly kept his team in the game.

Zach Whitecloud and Janmark scored shorthanded for Vegas after the Ducks had taken a three-goal lead. Will Carrier and Reilly Smith also scored for the Golden Knights.

The Ducks played without captain Ryan Getzlaf, who appeared to injure his left ankle on Tuesday night early in Anaheim’s 5-4 shootout victory over the Kings.