Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Kurtis MacDermid and Logan O’Connor also scored, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in Denver on Tuesday night.
Jonathan Drouin also had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 31 shots for the Avalanche, who ended a three-game losing streak.
Sam Carrick and Leo Carlsson tallied goals and Josh Gibson made 27 saves for Anaheim. The Ducks have lost nine of their last 10 games.
Colorado was without defenseman Cale Makar (lower-body injury) for the second straight game. Forwards Andrew Cogliano (lower-body injury) and Valeri Nichushkin (illness) were also out, and then the Avalanche lost defenseman Bowen Byram to an upper-body injury in the second period.
Byram took a hard check from Anaheim winger Max Jones. O’Connor sent Jones into the boards and drew a two-minute roughing minor. Jones didn’t play in the third period.
Colorado got on the scoreboard at 1:40 of the first period. MacKinnon had the puck along the boards, drew two Ducks to him and sent a pass to MacDermid skating into the left circle. MacDermid beat Gibson with a low shot to the far post. It was MacDermid’s second goal of the season.
It stayed that way until late in the second period. Drouin got a rebound in front of the net, sent a pass to MacKinnon on the other side of the crease, and MacKinnon snapped it in at 17:43. It was his ninth goal of the season.
O’Connor made it 3-0 when he tapped in MacKinnon’s rebound at 6:21 of the third period. It was O’Connor’s fourth of the season and MacKinnon’s 500th career assist. He is the fourth player in franchise history to reach the mark.
The Ducks answered when Carrick scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway at 10:43, his fifth score of the season. They struck again on a 5-on-3 power play when Carlsson scored into an open net at 14:11. It was his eighth goal of the season.
Gibson came off for an extra skater with 53 seconds left, but Anaheim couldn’t get the equalizer.
–Field Level Media
