Devon Toews scored two goals and added an assist, Mikko Rantanen also scored to extend his point streak to 14 games and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 in Denver on Monday night.
Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 26 shots for Colorado. The Avalanche are 7-0-1 in their past eight games and wrapped up a 3-0-1 homestand.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves for Florida.
Colorado outshot the Panthers 10-1 to start the game, but Florida took an early lead. Verhaeghe got the puck at center ice and broke into the Avalanche zone on a two-on-one with Anton Lundell. Verhaeghe passed the puck to Lundell before one-timing the return pass to beat Blackwood at 15:57 of the first period.
Colorado pressed for the equalizer, but Bobrovsky was sharp, and he got help from his net. Cale Makar hit the left post before Toews’ shot from the point later hit the crossbar, dropped straight down and bounced off Bobrovsky and in at 18:18 of the second period.
Neither team was able to get the upper hand until the 8:54 mark of the third period. Just after the Panthers killed off a minor penalty, the Avalanche worked the puck around the offensive zone and got it to Toews at the point. Toews then sent a wrister through traffic that got past Bobrovsky.
It was Toews’ first two-goal game since May 8, 2021.
Matthew Tkachuk nearly tied the contest when he tried to knock in his own rebound later in the third, but Blackwood got his left pad on the attempt to keep Colorado in front 2-1.
Bobrovsky came off for an extra skater with just over two minutes left, and Rantanen scored into an empty net at 18:03.
The 14-game point streak matches the longest of Rantanen’s career.
–Field Level Media
