Red-hot Mikko Rantanen scored two more goals and Nathan MacKinnon extended a pair of streaks as the Colorado Avalanche won their eighth consecutive game, 6-1 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

Cale Makar had a goal and an assist and Ross Colton also scored for the Avalanche, who have won 10 of 11 to remain tied with Dallas for the top spot in the Central Division.

Rantanen had a hat trick in Tuesday’s win over St. Louis and has eight goals in his last five games.

MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to extend his home point streak to 33 games. He also has 11 goals and 23 assists during a 17-game overall point streak.

Elvis Merzlikins stopped a season-high 44 shots for the last-place Blue Jackets.

Milano has hat trick in Capitals’ shootout win

Sonny Milano notched his first career hat trick and Dylan Strome scored the lone shootout goal to lift the Washington Capitals to a wild 7-6 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Strome had three assists in regulation and Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Ivan Miroshnichenko also scored as the Capitals won their fourth in five games to get within one point of Detroit for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Sebastian Aho scored three goals and Jake Guentzel had three assists for Carolina, which had won four straight. The Hurricanes moved to 7-1-1 in their last nine games and are within one point of the Rangers for the lead in the Metropolitan Division.

Benn lifts Stars over Penguins

Jamie Benn scored two goals in a 77-second span in the second period and the Dallas Stars topped the sliding Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2.

Joe Pavelski and Sam Steel also scored and Jake Oettinger stopped 20 shots for the Stars, who have won three in a row to tie Colorado for first place in the Central Division.

Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell tallied for Pittsburgh, which fell to 0-6-1 in its last seven road games.

Aleksander Barkov scored his second goal of the game with 5:22 remaining and the NHL-leading Florida Panthers used a three-goal third period to defeat the Dallas Stars 5-2 on Tuesday.

Dallas held a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, but Barkov scored a power-play goal with 8:51 left and Sam Bennett netted the tying goal just under three minutes later. Barkov scored the winner just 38 seconds later on a power play.

Sam Reinhart added his team-leading 46th goal for the Panthers, who won for the 18th time in 21 games.

Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and an assist for the Central Division-leading Stars, who had won five in a row.

Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky allowed more than two goals for the first time since Jan. 19, ending his personal 12-game stretch.

Shesterkin perfect again

Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots for his second straight shutout and the New York Rangers padded their lead in the Metropolitan Division with a 1-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Shesterkin, who blanked St. Louis on Saturday, turned away five shots in the first period, 11 in the second and 12 more in the third for his 14th career shutout.

Adam Fox scored the game’s only goal late in the first period as New York won its third straight to open a six-point lead over Carolina in the Metro.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves for the Hurricanes, who had won three in a row.

Rantanen’s big game powers surging Avs

Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists and the Colorado Avalanche scored five times in the second period in a 6-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and two assists and Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who have won four straight and six of seven to pull within two points of Dallas for the Central Division lead.

MacKinnon, who leads the NHL with 113 points, extended his point streak to 13 games. He has nine goals and 19 assists during that span.

The Flames dropped their third straight after winning six of seven.