MacKinnon Reaches 500 Points As Avalanche Top Kings 3-2
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon became the first member of the 2013 NHL draft class to reach 500 points, Devon Toews and Mikko Rantanen scored power-play goals and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Tuesday night.
MacKinnon, selected by the Avalanche with the first overall pick in 2013, had a pair of assists to become the fourth player in Colorado history to reach 500 points. He picked up the milestone point late in the second period when he fed Rantanen on a cross-ice pass for a power-play goal to give the Avs a 3-0 lead.
Brandon Saad scored 3:07 into the game before Toews and Rantanen scored less than two minutes apart in the second. Toews scored for the second straight game when he took advantage of a screen down low and put in a slap shot just inside the post at 14:11. That was followed by Rantanen's goal at 16:06.
Philipp Grubauer stopped 23 shots for Colorado.
Andreas Athanasiou and Adrian Kempe scored third-period goals for Los Angeles. Anze Kopitar had two assists and Cal Petersen made 21 saves.
Athanasiou put the Kings on the board at 7:50 of the third with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle for his third goal in three games. Kempe brought the Kings within one at 14:22 with a power-play goal.
NO GOAL
Rantanen was initially credited with a goal 27 seconds into the second period after Petersen was unable to cleanly glove McKinnon's wrist shot. But the goal was disallowed when replay determined Rantanen interfered with Petersen in the crease.
TRADING PLACES
Colorado and Minnesota traded defensemen on Tuesday, with the Avalanche acquiring Greg Pateryn in exchange for Ian Cole. Pateryn is in his eighth season and has two assists in three games.
ICE CHIPS
Avalanche: Colorado has outscored opponents 6-0 in the second period.
Kings: Lias Andersson was activated from the taxi squad and centered the fourth line.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The teams meet again on Thursday.
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