Martin Necas’ first hat trick carries Hurricanes past Avalanche 5-2

Martin Necas posted a natural hat trick in the first 17 minutes, the first three-goal game of his career, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night despite changing goalies twice. Carolina led 3-0 with 3:09 remaining in the first period thanks to Necas, whose hat trick was the fastest to begin a game in franchise history. Michael Bunting and Seth Jarvis also scored and Teuvo Teravainen had three assists as Carolina avoided what would have been its first two-game pointless stretch in two months.