Nathan MacKinnon had two goals with three assists and J.T. Compher scored twice and also added two assists, as the visiting Colorado Avalanche struck four times in the second period for a 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
After being humbled in Tuesday’s 5-0 loss at Winnipeg, the Avalanche went 3-for-6 on the power play to win for the fifth time in six road contests. It was MacKinnon’s fifth career five-point game and first of the season. Colorado also got a goal from Artturi Lehkonen and an empty-netter via Mikko Rantanen to extend its winning streak over Buffalo to eight games.
Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens each had a goal with two assists for the Sabres, who took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
The Avs, though, tied, then took the lead with 10:11 remaining in the second period. Working with a 5-on-3 advantage, MacKinnon drilled the puck by Sabres netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (28 saves) to level with 11:00 minutes to play in the middle frame.
Then 49 seconds later, with a man-advantage, Colorado’s consistent net-front pressure resulted in Lehkonen’s chip-in for a 3-2 lead. MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a two-goal advantage on his wrister from the high slot with 8:07 to go in the second.
Buffalo pulled one back through its own 5-on-3 opportunity as Cozens roped in Thompson’s pass from close range on the power play with 5:55 left in the middle period for his fifth goal in five games. But Compher put home a long rebound with 2:44 to play in the second to put the Avalanche back up by two goals, 5-3.
Just seven seconds into the third, Alex Tuch perfectly played Rasmus Dahlin’s long pass off the end board, and beat Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev (24 saves) for his 200th NHL point to make it 5-4.
The Avalanche opened the scoring on the power play, when Compher was persistent enough to score with 11:12 remaining in the first. However, less than two minutes later, Buffalo leveled when JJ Peterka successfully one-timed the puck from the circle.
The Sabres took a 2-1 lead with just 10.7 seconds remaining in the opener. Thompson put a nifty move on Georgiev to easily bury the puck.
–Field Level Media
