Joel Kiviranta’s hard work, increased scoring has made him a critical depth player for the Avalanche

Joel Kiviranta did not score his first regular-season hat trick because he had family in the stands at Ball Arena.

He does not have five goals in three games against the Seattle Kraken because he plays better against them. Those are fun anecdotes, but also correlation without causation.

There are tangible reasons why Kiviranta has become a regular and a key depth play for the Colorado Avalanche since arriving for the team’s training camp last season on a player-tryout contract. And they’ve helped him have a couple of big moments recently for the Avs.

“The evolution of (Kiviranta’s) game goes back to early last year,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He really started digging in on his game. Trying to do more on the offensive side of it, be more comfortable with the puck and play with the puck more instead of just chip and chase all the time.

“He’s still very responsible that way, but he started to spend a lot of time with (assistant coach Ray Bennett) on video and trying to take his game to another level, be more impactful on the offensive side of it.”

Kiviranta had a natural hat trick Sunday night to help the Avalanche reach the holiday break with a 5-2 win against Seattle and victories in seven of its past nine contests. He has 10 goals and 12 points in 36 games, besting his previous career highs of nine goals and 11 points.

He has scored them in bunches this season — four came during a three-game road trip in October, and five have come in the past three contests. The first one Sunday night broke a 2-2 tie and came during a 2-on-1 with Mikko Rantanen, while the next two were shot into the empty net as the Kraken tried to come back.

Parker Kelly did assist on the last one, but a big part of why Kiviranta was on the ice in those situations and why he’s become an integral component of this team has been his play with Kelly and Logan O’Connor on the team’s third line.

“We have been pretty solid with (O’Connor) and (Kelly),” Kiviranta said. “I think we all like to play together, and we have a similar way to play. I think that’s huge for us.”

Given the injury/availability crisis this season, the Avs have rarely come close to icing what would be the team’s 12 best forwards. That has led to a lot of instability on both the second and fourth lines.

Bednar has found a third line that he likes and trusts. Kelly wasn’t a center before this season began. Kiviranta has played mostly on the fourth line in his career, with some short-term promotions. O’Connor has been a trusted guy for years but only became a consistent third-line option last season.

Kelly and O’Connor have earned plenty of praise for their work, but it hasn’t always translated into production. It has for Kiviranta, who is now one of seven Avs to reach double digits in goals this season.

“That line is really connected as a group,” Bednar said. “Extremely hard-working line, defensively conscious, and they’re really just finding ways to chip in off hard work.”

This was the first game Kiviranta’s family, including his parents and brother, had seen in Denver since he joined the Avalanche. He thought it was just a normal game with a few good bounces, but wouldn’t be against any potential good juju having them in town might create.

“Oh yeah, they are going to stay for like three weeks,” Kiviranta said. “So let’s see.”

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