Andrew Cogliano and Nathan MacKinnon scored 49 seconds apart in a three-goal second period, Alexandar Georgiev had 33 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the scuffling Dallas Stars 5-1 in Denver on Tuesday night.
Cogliano and MacKinnon added an assist each, Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen also had a goal and an assist and Joel Kiviranta scored for Colorado. The Avalanche have won the first three games against the Stars, with one game remaining between the teams.
MacKinnon now has at least one point in all 29 home games, which is the second-longest streak to begin a season behind Wayne Gretzky’s 40 in the 1988-89 season. MacKinnon’s home point streak is also the longest since Mario Lemieux’s 31-game run during the 1995-96 season.
Logan Stankoven scored and Jake Oettinger turned away 22 shots for Dallas, which has lost six of its last seven games.
Stankoven, who made his NHL debut Saturday, scored at the one-minute mark of the first period — his second goal in as many nights — to give the Stars the early lead.
Colorado quickly tied it when Kiviranta scored his third goal of the season on a one-timer off a pass from Cogliano at 2:08 of the first. Rantanen made it 2-1 just 3:50 later when his rebound shot went off Dallas center Radek Faksa for his 31st goal of the season.
The Avalanche pulled away with a big second period. Cogliano made it 3-1 at 7:09 when he beat Oettinger with a snap shot from the left circle, for his sixth of the season. Forty-nine seconds later, MacKinnon got behind the Stars’ defense and backhanded a shot in from the top of the crease, scoring his 35th of the season.
Cale Makar’s assist on MacKinnon’s goal made him the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history with 308 points. He broke a tie with Tyson Barrie and needed less than five seasons to set the mark.
Lehkonen capped the flurry of goals with his ninth of the season at 14:15.
–Field Level Media
