DENVER — Gabe Landeskog broke a tie midway through the third period and the Colorado Avalanche overcame Sidney Crosby’s natural hat trick to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Colorado won its sixth straight and is 8-0-1 in its last nine.

Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and an empty-net goal with 29 seconds left, his 18th goal of the season. Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson and Colin Wilson also scored for Colorado, and Mikko Rantanen had two assists.

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Crosby erased a 3-0 deficit by himself. He struck twice in the final minute of the second period. His first came off his own rebound on a breakaway with 52 seconds to go, and struck again with 10 seconds left with Colorado defenseman Patrik Nemeth off for holding. Crosby tied it at 4:43 of the second to complete his first hat trick of the season. He has 13 goals.

Landeskog broke the tie with his 15th goal at 10:05. The Penguins pulled Tristan Jarry for an extra skater, but MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg scored to seal it.

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Girard gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season at 11:19 of the first period, Johnson scored at 5:13 of the second and Wilson made it 3-0 at 7:52 of the second.

The Penguins challenged Johnson’s goal for goaltender interference but it was upheld upon review.

NOTES: Colorado D Tyson Barrie missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Pittsburgh D Kris Letang, who set a franchise record for games played in Winnipeg on Tuesday, had his four-game point streak ended. … Colorado is 1-1-1 on the second game of back-to-back sets this season. It is 3-1-0 in the first game. … The first penalty wasn’t called until Crosby drew a holding the stick minor 49 seconds into the second period. Colorado’s Alexander Kerfoot got a high-sticking minor 19 seconds later.

UP NEXT:

Penguins: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Avalanche: Host St. Louis on Friday night.