The Colorado Avalanche got dragged into a defensive slog Wednesday night with the Los Angeles Kings, but having more world-class players than the other team works in those types of contests, too. Mikko Rantanen had a natural hat trick and an assist ...

The Los Angeles Kings put together one of their finest periods of hockey against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday. Then, they called it a night. In a period where the Kings outshot (9-5) and out-attempted (11-7) the Avalanche,

The Kings dropped their second consecutive game in regulation on Wednesday night. Falling 4-2 in Colorado to the Avalanche, they’ll head back to Los Angeles with a pair of road losses on this mini two-game trip.

Something of a crisis appeared to be brewing in the Colorado net, but they’ve gotten more stable netminding of late. Alexandar Georgiev has won his last two decisions and may have played his best game in a tight loss to NHL-topping Winnipeg right before that. Justus Annunen has won four of his past five decisions.

The Colorado Avalanche have faced more adversity through 17 games than most NHL teams do in an entire season. Coming off a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators, they faced another stiff test in the form of the Los Angeles Kings.