Ducks can't hold early lead in loss to Colorado
ANAHEIM ❯❯ For nearly 16 tantalizing minutes, it looked like the Ducks could play — at least on this night — with the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
They held an early 1-0 lead and early momentum.
The Avalanche equalized with defenseman Bowen Byram's goal at 15:43 and as time wound down in the first period, the Nathan MacKinnon Show took over. He made something out of nothing, scoring with 7.9 seconds remaining in the first, making it 2-1, and it completely changed the complexion of the game.
Colorado would go on to score two quick goals — in the first 3:46 of the second period — and it was straight downhill for the Ducks after that as the Avalanche won 5-1 on Monday night at Honda Center. The Ducks have lost five straight games since defeating Columbus on March 17.
Further compounding the bad news for the Ducks was that leading scorer Trevor Zegras did not play the third period because of a lower-body injury. There was no immediate word as to how serious was the injury. The Ducks were already playing without Troy Terry, who has been absent from the team because of personal reasons.
By the time Zegras exited, the game had mostly been decided. Ducks goalie John Gibson made 39 saves.
MacKinnon was the difference-maker. The twopoint night brought him to 95 points in 62 games, as he is closing in on an important individual mark — 100 points. His career high is 99 points in the 2018-19 season.
In a season full of lessons for the Ducks, this was yet another one, seeing how a player of MacKinnon's caliber can singlehandedly impact a game with two inspired and energized shifts.
In addition to his late first-period goal, MacKinnon set up Valeri Nichushkin, making it 4-1 at 3:46 of the second.
It demonstrated once again that Colorado, not at its best, still manages to find a way. Colorado expanded its lead to 5-1 in the third-period on Samuel Girard's goal at 4:22, making it 12 consecutive games that the Avalanche have scored on the power play.