Cale Makar produced two goals and four assists for the first six-point game of his career, Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals and added three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the San Jose Sharks 7-3 in Denver on Thursday.
Jonathan Drouin and Martin Necas each had a goal and an assist, Joel Kiviranta also scored, Artturi Lehkonen contributed two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 31 shots for Colorado, which has won four straight.
The Avalanche announced in the third period they had acquired forwards Brock Nelson and William Dufour from the New York Islanders. Colorado sent defenseman Oliver Kylington, forward Calum Ritchie and two draft picks to New York.
William Eklund had a goal and an assist, Macklin Celebrini and Fabian Zetturlund scored goals and Alexandar Georgiev had 25 saves for San Jose, which had won two straight.
Before the game, the Sharks dealt forward Nico Sturm to Florida and held out forward Luke Kunin and defenseman Jake Walman from the lineup for roster reasons. Walman was reportedly getting traded to Edmonton, although the deal had not been finalized.
The Avalanche jumped on San Jose early when Kiviranta scored a short-handed goal at 4:19 of the first period.
Makar made it 2-0 when he scored on the power play at 6:43 of the first, but Zetterlund answered on a Sharks power play at 10:08.
Drouin scored a power-play goal at 19:57 to give the Avalanche a two-goal advantage heading into the first intermission.
Colorado went back on the power play 37 seconds into the middle period, and it took just three seconds for Necas to score on a one-timer. MacKinnon made it 5-1 when he tapped in Makar’s rebound at 10:54 of the second, and he got his second of the night at 5:21 of the third.
Celebrini scored at 8:10 of the third, but Makar answered 50 seconds later, setting a franchise record for points in a game by a defenseman.
Eklund added a goal at 17:24.
–Field Level Media
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