DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon notched his seventh profession hat trick as a part of a four-point efficiency, and the Colorado Avalanche broke out of a two-game funk with a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night time.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar additionally scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 20 pictures in a bounce-back efficiency after permitting 12 targets in his earlier two video games.
The win saved Colorado in second place within the Central Division with 104 factors. The staff trails Dallas by 5 factors with three video games left. Colorado additionally stays forward of Winnipeg, which beat Nashville 4-3 in extra time Tuesday to climb to 102 factors.
Colorado hosts the Jets on Saturday in what could possibly be a pivotal sport for seeding functions. The highest two spots within the division earn home-ice benefit within the first spherical.
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had targets for a Wild staff that was formally eradicated from postseason rivalry. Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves.
The sport was halted for a number of minutes within the second interval to scrub up the plethora of hats that hit the ice after MacKinnon’s third objective. He has scored 51 occasions this season, eclipsing the 50-goal mark for the primary time in his profession.
MacKinnon additionally had an help to present him 137 factors. He’s preserving tempo with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov within the race for the Artwork Ross Trophy, which works to the NHL’s factors chief. Kucherov has 139 factors after a three-assist efficiency Tuesday.
The speedy MacKinnon helped the Avalanche draw back by scoring two of their three targets within the second to make it a 5-2 sport.
Makar had two assists to go along with his twentieth objective of the season. He’s the primary defenseman in franchise historical past to notch a number of 20-goal seasons.
Jonathan Drouin added three assists.
After the morning skate, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar mentioned he hoped for a “rock-solid identification sport” from his staff. It was rock strong, particularly on protection. The one blemish was permitting two targets on the facility play.
There was a scary second within the first interval when Colorado defenseman Devon Toews fell to the ice after being hit by a stick. He was helped to the locker room with a towel pressed in opposition to his face. The Wild initially drew a double-minor penalty for drawing blood, however a overview confirmed Toews was by chance struck by the stick of teammate Andrew Cogliano.
Toews returned later within the interval.
The Avalanche had been with out Mikko Rantanen (concussion protocol) for a second straight sport. Rantanen skated with the staff Tuesday morning. He could possibly be again this weekend.
UP NEXT
Wild: At Vegas on Friday.
Avalanche: Host Winnipeg on Saturday.
