Avalanche Cool Flames 4-1 to Claim Fifth-Straight Win

Flaming hot.
The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Saturday night. Colorado extended its win streak to five games and its point streak to seven games (6-0-1) and is now 33-19-5 on the season and second in the Central Division standings.

For the Avalanche,Nathan MacKinnon, Alex Newhook and Denis Malgin scored, while Mikko Rantanen scored on the power play. Valeri Nichushkin handed out two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 28 of the 29 shots he faced. The Avalanche utilized a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
For the Flames, Tyler Toffoli scored on the power play. Between the pipes, Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves on 22 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Coloradocontinued its flaming hot streak as of late as they executed another full-60 minute effort that was backed by strong netminding, efficient five-on-five play and contributions from the entirety of their lineup.
The Avalanche clasped a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission - with goals from MacKinnon and Newhook - as they scored both goals on as many shots.
Just 3:05 into the opening frame, the Avalanche forced a turnover as the Flames tried to exit their zone. Valeri Nichushkin won a wall battle to chip the puck out to above the right faceoff circle. MacKinnon swooped in, skated into the right faceoff circle and wired a wrist shot over Markstrom's glove for the game's icebreaker.

While both sides generated some end-to-end action, the Avalanche doubled their lead 2-0 at 8:22 on a goal almost identical to Darren Helm's 2022 Second Round series clinching goal against the St. Louis Blues.
On a quick zone entry Andrew Cogliano dropped a pass by the Calgary bench to Logan O'Connor. The winger - who had the primary assist on Helm's Second Round series-clinching goal - snapped a cross-ice pass that deflected off the boards and shot out atop the right faceoff circle. Newhook connected with the puck as it bounced off the boards as he blasted a one timer past Markstrom.

Early on in the second period, the Avalanche cushioned their lead on a power play goal. Calgary's Elias Lindholm was sent to the box at 2:02 for slashing. On Colorado's power play, MacKinnon sent a pass to the right faceoff circle where the Russian winger ripped a one timer on net. The puck deflected off the chest of Rantanen, who was stationed at the net front, at 2:42 to extend the Avalanche's lead 3-0. The goal marked Rantanen's third in as many games and his 38th of the season.

As the Flames were trailing by three goals, the game got heated in the waning minutes of the frame. A heavy-weight tilt broke out at 16:24 between Flames' winger Milan Lucic and Kurtis MacDermid, who were both sent off for the remainder of the frame.
Just a few seconds after the exchange, Cogliano was called for tripping at 16:29. On the Flames' power play, Georgiev made a pad save on a Rasmus Andersson shot. The rebound kicked out to the goal line and - from a sharp angle - Toffoli corralled the puck off his skate and zipped a shot past the Avalanche netminder to trim Calgary's deficit down 3-1.
Early in the third period, Colorado upped its lead 4-1 on a highlight-reel goal from Malgin at 4:12. The Swiss forward collected a pass from Josh Manson in the neutral zone. From the center-ice logo, Malgin carried the puck up ice, deked past three Calgary skaters as he used a head fake, skated into the low slot and snapped a wrist shot past Markstrom.

Tensions continued to rise as the came continued, but the Avalanche were able to muster through the heated exchanges and lock down the game to claim the 4-1 win and ascend to second place in the Central Division standings.

NOTEWORTHY:

• MacKinnon buried his 21st goal of the season and extended his point streak to six games where he totaled 15 points (8G, 7A) in that span. The centerman also has goals in three-straight games.
• Newhook tallied his 13th goal of the season.
• Rantanen buried his team-leading 38th goal of the season. The Finnish winger is also now riding a four-game goal streak with six points (4G, 2A) in that span.
• Malgin recorded his fifth goal of the season.
• Nichushkin picked up primary assists on MacKinnon and Rantanen's goals.
• Josh Manson skated in his 500th-career NHL game and recorded an assist. The defenseman also played in consecutive halves of a back-to-back set for the first time since coming back from injury.
• Georgiev made his 41st start of the season, while his record improved to 25-12-4.
• Colorado finished the game 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
• The Avalanche blocked a total of 24 shots. Bowen Byram led the team with four blocked shots.
• Nazem Kadri returned to Denver for the first time since the centerman departed in the offseason in free agency. Kadri was a member of Colorado's organization from 2019-22 and a member of the 2022 Stanley Cup winning roster.
• Cale Makar (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Darren Helm (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche continue their three-game homestand at Ball Arena as they host Vegas on Monday night. The puck drops between the Avs and Golden Knights at 7:00 p.m. MT.