Parker Kelly scored twice, Cale Makar produced a goal and two assists and the visiting Colorado Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Necas also scored and Brock Nelson and Jack Drury had two assists each for Colorado, which has won three straight. The Avalanche, with an NHL-best 91 points, stayed six points ahead of streaking Dallas Stars in the Central Division before the teams meet in Texas on Friday.
Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood turned away 27 shots.
Cutter Gauthier scored his sixth goal in the past six games and Lukas Dostal made 21 saves for Anaheim, which had its five-game winning streak snapped. The Ducks had won eight in a row at home before the Tuesday loss, but they didn’t lose ground on Vegas in the Pacific Division.
The Golden Knights, who lost 3-2 at Buffalo on Tuesday, lead with 70 points, one more than Anaheim. The Ducks have played one game fewer.
Colorado, which won 4-2 at Los Angeles on Monday, killed off two penalties in the first eight minutes of the Tuesday game to keep it scoreless. Makar gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when he beat Dostal with a wrister from the slot.
Necas made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 14:05 of the first, his fifth goal in five games since the NHL season resumed. He has 27 goals, one shy of his career high set in 2022-23 with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Gauthier briefly got Anaheim into the game when he scored 4:50 into the second period, but Kelly restored the two-goal lead with his first of the night at 15:03 of the middle frame.
Colorado put it away in the third period. Landeskog fired in a one-timer from the slot off a feed by Nathan MacKinnon to make it 4-1 at 4:35, his second goal in as many nights.
It was also the 100th point of the season for MacKinnon — the fourth straight season he has reached the century mark. He trails Edmonton’s Connor McDavid by five points in the scoring race.
Kelly finished the scoring with his career-best-extending 15th of the season at 10:06.
–Field Level Media
