Nicolas Roy scored twice in the second period to snap a lengthy goal drought and the Vegas Golden Knights extended the Colorado Avalanche’s losing streak to four games with a 3-2 win on Monday in Denver.
Roy had gone 17 games without a goal before scoring his sixth and seventh of the season to put Vegas up 3-1. He last scored on Nov. 25 in a 4-2 loss to Seattle.
“Obviously you don’t have same confidence when you don’t score, but the last three or four games our line has been playing really well,” Roy told Canadian broadcaster Sportsnet.
Michael Amadio also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won four of their past six games (4-1-1). Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson stopped 27 of 29 shots.
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist while Artturi Lehkonen logged two assists for the reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche, who have lost a season-high-tying four straight games (0-3-1). Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves on 28 shots.
MacKinnon missed 11 games with an upper-body injury before returning Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and finishing with a minus-3 rating. He was back in form on Monday.
MacKinnon struck first with his ninth goal of the season just 25 seconds into the first period on a wrist shot to the top corner. MacKinnon took a nifty backhand saucer feed from Rantanen and drove to the net, surprising Thompson with a high shot that rang off the post.
Amadio opened the scoring for Vegas with just under three minutes left in the first to extend his career-high point streak to seven games. He deflected a shot by defenseman Nicolas Hague past Georgiev to tie it 1-1.
Roy scored his first of the night on a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle at 7:14 of the second to give Vegas a 2-1 lead.
He added a second off a deflection in front at 14:46 of the second to make it 3-1. Roy knocked a shot from William Carrier out of midair and into the bottom half of the net for his seventh of the season.
Rantanen cut Colorado’s deficit to one at 11:07 of the third period with his 25th goal of the season.
–Field Level Media
