MacKinnon's Four Points Lead Avalanche Past Lightning 6-3
Colorado built a 3-0 lead early in the second period, held off two Guentzel goals, and ended a two-game skid at Ball Arena.
Colorado scored twice in the first eight minutes and never trailed, beating Tampa Bay 6-3 at Ball Arena on Friday night to snap a two-game losing streak.
An early lead that held
Devon Toews opened the scoring at 1:08 of the first period, finishing a crossing pass from Martin Necas. Nazem Kadri made it 2-0 on the power play at 5:52, and Fedor Svechkov added a third 24 seconds into the second period, batting in his own blocked pass.
Tampa Bay did not go away. Jake Guentzel scored on a power play at 8:13 of the second, off a deflected shot from Charle-Edouard D'Astous, to make it 3-1. Artturi Lehkonen restored the three-goal margin at 13:57, and Guentzel answered again at 19:17, just after a power play had ended, to cut it to 4-2 going into the third.
Nathan MacKinnon's goal at 4:18 of the third made it 5-2. D'Astous pulled Tampa Bay back to within two at 15:13, but Necas sealed it with an empty-net goal at 17:19.
The numbers behind it
MacKinnon finished with a goal and three assists, according to NHL.com, his 45th career three-assist game, which ties Joe Sakic for third in Avalanche/Nordiques history. Necas had a goal and two assists, and Toews and Lehkonen each had a goal and an assist. Lehkonen extended his point streak to six games.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 shots for Colorado; Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves for Tampa Bay. The Lightning, by coach Jon Cooper's account, had almost 80 shot attempts, 45 of which were blocked or missed the net. "Ultimately, we had like almost 80 shot attempts, and 45 of them were either blocked or we missed the net," Cooper said. Brayden Point had two assists for Tampa Bay and said of the team's play, "I don't think our support was close enough."
Colorado coach Jared Bednar called it "probably our most complete effort of the year," and said the Avalanche killed penalties through a stretch he recalled as six straight. Logan O'Connor made his season debut for Colorado, taking three shots in 14:47.
What it means
The win moves Colorado to 6-4-1. The Avalanche had lost two straight and three of their last four. Tampa Bay fell to 7-3-0 after a three-game winning streak and seven wins in its previous eight.
The Lightning also still wait on a milestone: Nikita Kucherov entered with 1,137 career points and remains one point shy of Steven Stamkos's franchise record.