Avalanche moves into wild-card spot
Nathan MacKinnon thought back to the Colorado Avalanche’s struggles last season and couldn’t help but chuckle.
“We were out of the (playoff chase) with 30 games left,” he said.
Thanks in part to MacKinnon, it’s a much different story this season.
MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 44 shots, and the Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Thursday night. Mikko Rantanen also scored twice, and Gabriel Landeskog had three assists to help the Avalanche win its third straight to move into the first-wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of idle Dallas and five ahead of St. Louis. The Avalanche, which won 10 in a row from Dec. 29Jan. 22, are 6- 0-3 in its past nine games.
“Right now every point matters, every point counts,” Varlamov said. “Every game is like a playoff for us. This feels great just to be part of this.”
Colorado finished with an NHL-worst 48 points last year, which makes this year’s turnaround even more enjoyable.
“That’s a playoff- type game, as close as you get to the playoffs without getting in there,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Our guys played with great urgency, commitment and intensity. You play like that - good things will happen to you.”
Joel Edmundson scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen finished with 19 saves. KINGS 4, REDWINGS 1 » Anze Kopitar scored at 8:22 of the third period, breaking a 1-1 tie and helping Los Angeles beat Detroit. The win puhed the Kings into third place in the Pacific Division. The Kings (84 points) moved two points ahead of Anaheim and are a point behind the second- place Sharks. A third-place divisional finish guarantees a playoff spot. PREDATORS 3, COYOTES 2 » Kevin Fiala and Kyle Turris each had a goal and assist in the third period, leading Nashville over Arizona. Ryan Ellis also scored to help the Western Conference-leading Predators get their 21st road win of the season and improve to 120-1 in their last 13 games overall. Pekka Rinne finished with 32 saves.
• Nashville forward Calle Jarnkrok will miss the rest of the regular season with an upper-body injury, the team announced. Jarnkrok was hurt Tuesday night in a win over Winnipeg when checked by Jets forward Andrew Copp. Jarnkrok went to the locker roomand was seen wearing a sling around his right arm. PANTHERS 3, BRUINS 0 » James Reimer tied a season high with 46 saves to lead Florida over Boston. The Panthers moved within three points of idle New Jersey for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers, who have won 11 of their last 13 home games, have two games in hand on the Devils. CAPITALS 7, ISLANDERS 3 »T. J. Oshie scored twice, Dmitry Orlov and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal and two assists, and firstplace Washington beat New York. Andrei Burakovsky added a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller and John Carlson also scored to help Washington improve to 10- 4-3 in its past 17 games against the Islanders. Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assist sand Philip pG ru bauer finished with 35 saves for his 11th win of the season. PENGUINS 5, CANADIENS 3 » Patric Hornqvist’s second goal of the game gave Pittsburgh the lead in the third period, and the Penguins went on to beat Montreal. Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh, which remain tied with Washington in points atop the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals hold the tiebreaker with two games in hand. BLUE JACKETS 5, FLYERS 3 » Cam Atkinson scored a hat trick to lead surging Columbus to its sixth straight victory. The Blue Jackets tied Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Claude Giroux, Andrew MacDonald and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for the Flyers, who dropped their seventh in the past eight games. MAPLE LEAFS 5, SABRES 2 » James van Riemsdyk had two goals and an assist to lead Toronto over Buffalo. Connor Carrick, Tyler Bozak and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Maple Leafs. JETS 6, BLACKHAWKS 2 » Kyle Connor scored twice to reach 25 goals this season, and Winnipeg’s Patrick Laine extended his clubrecord point streak to 14 games with an assist.