After an 0-4-0 start, it would seem the Colorado Avalanche are back on track.
The Avalanche will look to post a third consecutive victory Tuesday when they travel to Seattle to face the Kraken.
Colorado got its first victory Friday, defeating visiting Anaheim 4-3 on Nathan MacKinnon’s overtime goal. The Avalanche then won 4-1 Sunday at winless San Jose as Ross Colton tallied twice.
Colton has scored twice in each of the victories playing on the Avs’ top line with MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Colton’s six goals this season were tied for second in the NHL entering Monday.
“Being able to play with Nate and Mikko has just been a pleasure,” Colton said. “That’s two of the best players in the world. For me, I’m just trying to play my game, try to get open for them. You just find the smallest bit of area on the ice and they find you. It’s been fun, but we’ve got to keep it up.
“My favorite thing about playing with them is just coming back to the bench and the little things they tell you. It makes a big difference. It goes a long way, knowing that those guys believe in me and we’ve formed a little bit of chemistry.”
Colton scored both of his goals Sunday in the opening period, including one on the power play.
“He plays hard, plays with the edge,” Rantanen said of Colton. “(On the) power play (he’s) good (with) loose pucks, good (at) finishing plays. (He’s) stepping up.”
MacKinnon had two assists Sunday and has points in all six games this season (two goals, nine assists).
“It’s been huge to have them going because the bulk of our offense is coming from those guys,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s a lot of pressure on those guys.”
Defenseman Cale Makar added a goal and two assists and also has a point in every game (two goals, 10 assists).
Avs goaltender Justus Annunen made 25 saves in his first start of the season.
“It’s huge to get a solid goaltender performance,” Bednar said. “It wasn’t a lot of work (but) he made key saves at key times. We did a nice job blocking shots in front of him. He looked solid in there. He looked big in there.”
The Kraken have won three games in a row, including a 2-1 overtime decision Saturday against previously undefeated Calgary. Jordan Eberle scored 48 seconds into overtime.
Chandler Stephenson scored his first goal for the Kraken since signing as a free agent in the offseason and goalie Joey Daccord made 21 saves.
“We just wanted to take advantage of being at home here for five games,” Stephenson said. “To get one at home, the first one, get it out of the way, off the shoulders.”
Stephenson scored off a pass from Jared McCann on a 5-on-3 man advantage in the second period to tie the score.
“I think it’s just going to keep building here,” Stephenson said. “Guys feel confident with (special teams) … we can be a good (penalty kill) team and we want to be top 10 in both categories (penalty kill and power play).”
–Field Level Media
