DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon had a purpose and two assists because the short-handed Colorado Avalanche held off a late rally by the Anaheim Ducks for a 3-2 win on Tuesday night time.
Kurtis MacDermid scored early within the first and Logan O’Connor made it 3-0 within the third earlier than the Ducks staged their comeback bid.
Sam Carrick scored a short-handed purpose and Leo Carlsson added a power-play purpose with 5:49 remaining within the third to make it 3-2. The Ducks pulled goaltender John Gibson for an additional skater with underneath a minute remaining, however couldn’t tie it up.
Alexandar Georgiev completed with 32 saves for Colorado.
MacKinnon’s two assists gave him 500 for his profession. He turned simply the fourth participant in franchise historical past to achieve the milestone, becoming a member of Joe Sakic, Peter Stastny and Peter Forsberg.
The Avalanche rolled out a mix of line combos with Cale Makar (decrease physique), Andrew Cogliano (decrease physique) and Valeri Nichushkin (illness) all sidelined.
PHOTOS: MacKinnon has purpose and a pair of assists as Avalanche stand up to Ducks rally in 3-2 win
Gibson made 29 saves for the Ducks, who’ve misplaced 9 of 10.
The Ducks had a 5-on-3 benefit with 6:49 remaining when Fredrik Olofsson drew a penalty for tripping and MacDermid for roughing. After Carlsson’s purpose, the Avalanche withstood the remainder of the Anaheim benefit.
Bowen Byram took an enormous hit to the chest within the second interval from Anaheim ahead Max Jones. O’Connor didn’t take kindly to the hit to Byram, who has a concussion historical past, and drew a roughing name for going after Jones.
Byram didn’t return for the third interval with what the staff referred to as an upper-body damage. Jones didn’t return, both, because of an upper-body damage.
MacDermid scored his second purpose of the season 1:40 into the opening interval. Known extra for his bodily play, he now has scored in two straight video games that’s he’s skated in. In between MacDermid’s final rating, although, on Nov. 24 at Minnesota, have been 5 contests the place he didn’t play.
First-year Anaheim coach Greg Cronin is aware of the Avalanche and their recipe for successful effectively. He was the coach of the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, from 2018-23.
“We’ve taken our systems or injected what they did here (in Colorado) into what we do in Orange County – with a couple wrinkles,” Cronin stated earlier than the sport.
It was the third and closing assembly of the season for the 2 groups. The Avalanche completed 2-0-1 towards the Ducks.
UP NEXT
Ducks: At Chicago on Thursday.
Avalanche: The second of a five-game homestand will likely be Thursday towards Winnipeg.
