MacKinnon has goal and assist to extend home point streak, Avalanche cruise to 5-1 win over Stars
DENVER – Andrew Cogliano and Nathan MacKinnon scored 49 seconds apart to help Colorado pull away in the second period, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 33 shots and the Avalanche cruised to a 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.
MacKinnon also had an assist to give him at least a point in all 29 home games this season. It's the longest home point streak since Mario Lemieux's 31-game run in 1995-96.
"It's the consistency that he's playing with on a nightly basis," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar explained of MacKinnon's home-point flurry. "He was incredible tonight. His checking game tonight, the detail which he played with on the defensive side of the puck, led to a lot of offense."
Joel Kiviranta, Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen also had goals as Colorado scored five straight after falling behind 1-0 just 60 seconds into the game.
Georgiev settled in after that shaky beginning and made several critical saves to keep the momentum from shifting.
"That's one of the best games I've seen him play in a long time," Bednar said.
It was a big night for Cale Makar, who had an assist on MacKinnon's goal to become the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history. His 308th career point broke a tie with Tyson Barrie.
"They've had some pretty good defenseman play here for long periods of time, and so to be at the top of the list already, that's pretty impressive," Bednar said. "He's got so much hockey left to be played and probably his best hockey yet to be played."
The Stars were on the second night of a back-to-back after a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. They looked strong early, with Logan Stankoven scoring early before Colorado's scoring spurt.
"There were moments in the game where their speed overwhelmed us a couple of times," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "They were opportunistic when they got those looks."
Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for Dallas.
"It's a great test whenever you get to play them," Oettinger said. "If we go where we want to go, we'll have to get through those guys."
The Avalanche provided an early birthday present for Bednar, who turns 52 on Wednesday. The team is 3-0-0 against the Stars this season and a league-best 23-6-0 on home ice this season.
Colorado tightened up the Central Division race, too. The Stars and Winnipeg each have 79 points while the Avalanche are at 77.
"We have confidence ourselves in big games and big moments," Cogliano said.
Colorado's fourth line of Cogliano, Chris Wagner and Kiviranta provided a boost with two goals and two assists.
There were goals early and often as the Stars and Avalanche found the net a combined three times in the opening 5:58 of the game. Stankoven's score a minute into the contest was his second goal in as many games. The Stars have scored in the opening minute five times this season.
Kiviranta tied it up 68 seconds later and Colorado was on its way.
Jani Hakanpaa returned to the lineup after missing the last five games with an upper body injury. The Stars remain without Nils Lundkvist, Tyler Seguin and Evgenii Dadonov. Mason Marchment took a hard fall in the third period behind the Avalanche net when he tripped on a check attempt and went into the boards. DeBoer said after the game Marchment was all right.
Colorado moved closer to getting back forward Valeri Nichushkin, who returned to practice Monday. He's been away since mid-January as he received care from the player assistance program.
UP NEXT
Stars: Begin a two-game homestand Thursday night against Winnipeg.
Avalanche: Start a two-game trip Thursday night in Chicago.
