Rapid Recap: Avalanche 4, Ducks 1

The Colorado Avalanche scored twice in the third period to pull away with a 4-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday afternoon at Honda Center.
Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists to reach 500 career points, while Nathan MacKinnon also scored and added a helper. Andre Burakovsky and Ryan Graves also tallied for Colorado.

MacKinnon's two points pushed his point streak to nine games, the longest of the season by an Avalanche player.
Goaltender Jonas Johansson stopped 24-of-25 shots, with only Jamie Drysdale's shot that caromed off an Avs player in front beating him in the third period.
Colorado wrapped up its four-game road trip with a 3-1-0 record and was playing the first half of a back-to-back set. The squad hosts the Arizona Coyotes on Monday in Denver.

THE GOALS

1st Period
7:47 COL (1-0) - Andre Burakovsky took a loose puck in the slot and scored short-side.
2nd Period
6:38 COL (2-0) - PPG, Gabriel Landeskog deflected Nathan MacKinnon's one-timer into the goal during a 5-on-3, with Mikko Rantanen also picking up an assist.
3rd Period
12:37 ANA (2-1) - Jamie Drysdale tallied after his shot from the high slot was redirected off a Colorado player.
14:13 COL (3-1) - Ryan Graves recorded his first goal of the season after his outside shot pin-balled in front of the net and went in.
16:54 COL (4-1) - Nathan MacKinnon knocked in Cale Makar's cross pass.
Final: Avalanche - 4 | Ducks - 1

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 3
Anaheim: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Jonas Johansson made 24-of-25 saves while starting for consecutive games for the first time with the Avs.
Anaheim: John Gibson faced 37 shots and allowed four goals.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (six goals, nine assists), the longest active streak in the NHL and the longest by an Avalanche player this season. MacKinnon is also on a four-game assist streak.
Mikko Rantanen previously held the longest point streak by an Avalanche player this season at eight outings in a row from March 12-25.

NOTEBOOK

Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists to reach 500 career points... The Avalanche is the first team in the NHL to 60 points on the season... The team is 7-1-0 in the last eight games and owns a 15-1-2 record in the past 18 contests… Mikko Rantanen is on a four-game point streak (two goals, three assists)… Liam O'Brien fought Anaheim's Nicolas Deslauriers at 8:27 of the first period… The Avalanche finished its eight-game season series against the Ducks, going 6-1-1. It is the most wins that Colorado has had against Anaheim in a single season in franchise history… Colorado wrapped up the four-game road trip with a 3-1-0 record and is now 4-1-1 in day games… The Avs were beginning the seventh back-to-back of the season. The team is now 6-1-0 in the first game and owns a 3-0-3 record in the second.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Oh, happy day.

ROSTER REPORT

Jonas Johansson started for the second consecutive game in net. Acquired in a trade on Saturday, Devan Dubnyk was the backup goaltender for the contest. Philipp Grubauer had a full day off and did not dress for the first time this season. He'll likely start Monday's game at home against the Arizona Coyotes. Brandon Saad and Valeri Nichushkin switched lines for the start of the contest, with Saad joining a trio with Tyson Jost and Joonas Donskoi while Nichushkin skated on a combo with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky.

INJURY UPDATE

Bowen Byram entered the league's COVID protocol on Friday, and head coach Jared Bednar said that the rookie defenseman will have to quarantine for 10 days and could return at the two-week mark. Byram had been dealing with an upper-body injury as well prior to entering protocol. Matt Calvert (upper body) and Logan O'Connor (lower body) are listed as week-to-week. Defenseman Erik Johnson (upper body) and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) will miss remainder of the regular season, Bednar said on Saturday.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche heads back home to take on the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night to wrap up the back-to-back set. Colorado has five games remaining on home ice this season, with three of the next four at Ball Arena.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
20 Brandon Saad - 17 Tyson Jost - 72 Joonas Donskoi
38 Liam O'Brien - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 37 J.T. Compher
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 49 Samuel Girard
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
88 Kyle Burroughs - 67 Keaton Middleton
Goaltenders
35 Jonas Johansson
40 Devan Dubnyk