Rapid Recap: Avalanche 4, Bruins 1

BOSTON--The Colorado Avalanche scored four unanswered goals and continued its success in the home of the Boston Bruins with a 4-1 victory on Saturday night at TD Garden.
Colorado extended its point streak in Boston to 14 games, posting 12 wins, one tie and one overtime loss since the 1998-99 season. It was the Bruins' first regulation home loss of the season.
Valeri Nichushkin, Ian Cole, Andre Burakovsky and Gabriel Landeskog tallied for Colorado after Boston's Chris Wagner opened the game's scoring with 7:46 left in the first period. For Cole, he was playing in his 500th NHL game.

Philipp Grubauer started the outing in net for the Avs but left at 17:25 of the first period with an injury. Pavel Francouz finished the contest and stopped all 16 shots he faced.
The victory stretches Colorado's winning streak to a season-long six games. The contest in Boston was the last of a three-game road trip for the Avs, who picked up wins at the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens earlier in the week.
Colorado now returns to Denver for a three-game homestand that opens with a contest against the Calgary Flames on Monday.
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Highlights
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Watch: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
13:14 BOS (0-1) - Chris Wagner scored the first goal of the game when he tipped John Moore's shot from the blue line.
17:25 COL (1-1) - Valeri Nichushkin deked to his backhand and sent the puck into an open net to score his fourth goal in the past seven games.
2nd Period
9:17 COL (2-1) - Ian Cole skated into the top of the left circle and scored with slap shot after taking a pass from Mark Barberio.
18:21 COL (3-1) - Andre Burakvosky skated past the Bruins defenders and scored with a wrist shot to extend Colorado's lead.
3rd Period
19:57 COL (4-1) - ENG, Gabriel Landeskog sealed the game with a long shot into an empty net.
Final: Avalanche - 4 | Bruins - 1

3 Stars

Selected by 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

Power Plays

Colorado: 0 for 1
Boston: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Pavel Francouz finished the game by making 16-of-16 saves in 42:35 of ice time. Philipp Grubauer started in net and made 3-of-4 stops in 17:25 of game time.
Boston: Jaroslav Halak stopped 16 of the 19 shots he faced.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The Avalanche reached the 40-point mark in less than 30 games for just the third time since moving to Denver in 1995. The 2000-01 team reached 40 points in their 26th game (19-4-3-0) and the 2013-14 squad reached 40 in their 27th contest (20-7-0).
Colorado has won a season-high four straight contests on the road, and six consecutive outings, to improve to 11-3-0 in its last 14 games. The Avs' four consecutive road wins marks their longest road win streak since Nov. 11-Dec. 2, 2018 (six games).

NOTEBOOK

Andre Burakovsky scored for the 12th time this year, matching his total goals from each of the previous three seasons… Joonas Donskoi recorded two assists to register his seventh multi-point game of the campaign… Ian Cole scored his first goal of the season, and he was skating in his 500th NHL contest… Mark Barberio recorded his first point of the campaign with an assist on Cole's marker… Colorado is now 8-1-2 against Eastern Conference opponents and 6-1-1 versus Atlantic Division teams this year... Colorado handed Boston its first regulation home loss of the season... The Avs extended their point streak to 14 games at TD Garden (12-0-2, 12 wins, 1 tie, 1 OTL)... The Avalanche finished the season series against the Bruins with a 2-0-0 record and are 6-0-1 over its last six matchups against Boston... Valeri Nichushkin finished with a goal and now has five points (four goals, one assist) in his last seven games... Nikita Zadorov skated in a season-high 27:10, his most as a member of the Avalanche and most since Dec. 15, 2014 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres (vs. Ottawa, 27:44)... Zadorov's 10 hits were a season high.

QUOTABLE

Forward Andre Burakovsky on the win streak: "I think we are definitely doing the hard work. Just look at how many pucks we are blocking at the end, we are paying a price. We know it is going to hurt when the puck hits you, but I mean that's the team effort. We are paying the price to keep them out of the net and that is what we have to keep doing here."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

I spy a Landeskog.

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado's top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen was reunited for the start of the contest… Matt Calvert missed the game while out on personal leave... Calle Rosen was Colorado's healthy scratch.

INJURY UPDATE

Philipp Grubauer left the game 17:25 into the outing with an injury, but he was able to finish the contest on the bench as the backup goaltender… Cale Makar left in the third period with an injury and did not return... Vladislav Kamenev returned to game action after missing the last two outings with an illness… Nazem Kadri is day-to-day with a lower-body injury… Erik Johnson and Colin Wilson remain out with lower-body injuries.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche returns to Colorado for a three-game homestand. The home stay will open on Monday with the third and final matchup between the Avs and Calgary Flames this season. Colorado has won the first two meetings this season, winning 5-3 on opening night on Oct. 3 in Denver and 3-2 in Calgary on Nov. 19.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 13 Vlaeri Nichushkin
81 Vladislav Kamenev - 17 Tyson Jost - 36 T.J. Tynan
Defensemen
16 Nikita Zadorov - 8 Cale Makar
27 Ryan Graves - 49 Samuel Girard
44 Mark Barberio - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer (starter)
39 Pavel Francouz (backup)