Rapid Recap: Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 1

The Colorado Avalanche played its third game in four days and fell 3-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes at Pepsi Center on Thursday.
Carolina scored three times in the final three minutes of the game with markers from Andrei Svechnikov and Jaccob Slavin before Sebastian Aho scored into an empty net.
Avs goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced, including all 16 he faced in the first period. Gabriel Landeskog scored the first goal of the game for Colorado while on the power play 4:05 into the third period.

The Avalanche and Hurricanes will meet again at PNC Arena in Carolina on Feb. 28.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery
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Highlights
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Notes & Quotes
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Watch: Coach Bednar Postgame

THE GOALS

1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
4:05 COL (1-0) - PPG, Nathan MacKinnon shot the puck from between the circles and Gabriel Landeskog tipped it past James Reimer.
17:04 CAR (1-1) - Andrei Svechnikov got to a loose puck in the crease and scored to tie the game.
18:21 CAR (1-2) - Jaccob Slavin scored from the right circle on an odd-man rush.
19:54 CAR (1-3) - Sebastian Aho scored into an empty net .
Final: Hurricanes - 3 | Avalanche - 1

3 STARS

Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game: Corey Wagner (Littleton Hockey Association)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 6
Carolina: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 37 of the 39 shots he faced
Carolina: James Reimer allowed one goal on 28 shots

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Gabriel Landeskog took sole possession of 10th place on the Avalanche/Nordiques franchise's all-time power-play goals list with his 48th career man-advantage marker in the third period. The Stockholm, Sweden native also ranks fifth in Avalanche history in the statistic.
NOTEBOOK
Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, six assists), his third stretch of the season in which he has registered at least a point in seven or more contests. He has recorded 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in his last 16 games and has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 12 games versus Carolina… The Avalanche is 9-2-1 in its last 12 games and 6-2-1 over its last nine home contests… Colorado is now 10-2-2 against the Eastern Conference this season... The Avalanche completed its sixth back-to-back of the campaign and is now 3-3-0 in the second half of these sets… It was the 147 all-time meeting between the franchises. Both joined the NHL together in 1979 as the Harford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. Colorado/Quebec holds a 75-48-24 all-time edge (Carolina/Hartford is 51-72-24) … The Avs are now 12-2-3 in their last 16 home matchups with Carolina since the start of the 1996-97 season and 11-2-1 against the Hurricanes at Pepsi Center... The Avalanche and Hurricanes conclude their two-game, season series at PNC Arena on Feb. 28.

QUOTABLE

Jared Bednar on Erik Johnson's performance in his first game since Nov. 23: "I thought he was good. I didn't mind him at all. I thought he was moving pretty good for missing the time that he did. Made some plays, pretty poised with the puck, it was good to have him back."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Czech goalie friends.

ROSTER REPORT

Erik Johnson returned to game action after missing the last 11 outings with a lower-body injury. He had five shot attempts and five blocked shots in 20:47… Forward Vladislav Kamenev and defensemen Mark Barberio and Calle Rosen were Colorado's healthy scratches… Philipp Grubauer started in goal.

INJURY UPDATE

Cale Makar (upper body) last played on Dec. 7 at the Boston Bruins and continues to recover from his upper-body injury… Colin Wilson is out indefinitely after having surgery to help repair his lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Colorado completes its two-game homestand with a Division Rivalry game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. The outing will also be the fourth and final one between the Avs and Hawks this season.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
17 Tyson Jost - 91 Nazem Kadri - 95 Andre Burakovsky
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 49 Samuel Girard
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
54 Anton Lindholm - 6 Erik Johnson
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz