Gavin Brindley had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup, Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski also had a goal and an assist apiece, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 6-2 in Denver on Thursday night.
Brock Nelson, Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen scored goals, Josh Manson and Martin Necas added two assists apiece and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 23 shots for Colorado, which played the last two periods without Joel Kiviranta.
The Avalanche improved to 3-0-1 in their past four games.
Mackie Samoskevich and Noah Gregor scored goals and Daniil Tarasov made 36 saves for Florida. The Panthers had their three-game winning streak snapped.
One of Tarasov’s saves came on a penalty shot by MacKinnon at 14:58 of the third period.
Malinski gave the Avalanche the early lead when he took a pass from Martin Necas as he skated into the zone and beat Tarasov just 1:14 into the game.
Gregor tied it later in the first on a backhander over Blackwood’s shoulder at 7:21, but Nelson’s fourth goal in the last six games at 18:30 of the first period gave Colorado a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.
Brindley, who missed the previous 10 games with a lower-body injury, made it 3-1 at 5:05 of the second when he knocked in a Brent Burns rebound. MacKinnon’s wrister from the point 2:13 later gave the Avalanche a three-goal advantage.
It was MacKinnon’s NHL-leading 25th goal this season and pushed his league-best point total to 53. Lehkonen continued the second-period onslaught when Brindley found the winger skating up the middle of the ice, Lehkonen skated in alone on Tarasov and beat him with a low shot inside the left post.
Both teams had goals taken away after a review. Necas had a power-play goal erased when Florida successfully challenged for offsides late in the second period, and early in the third Eetu Luostarinen had a goal overturned when a league-initiated review determined he used a distinct kicking motion.
Soon after the Panthers’ goal was disallowed, Landeskog scored on a rebound at 6:18. Samoskevich answered with a goal at 13:08.
–Field Level Media
