Avalanche win to end six-game losing streak

BOSTON-- Calvin Pickard made 29 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche scored three unassisted goals in a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Thursday.
The Avalanche (10-14-1) won for the first time in seven games (1-5-1) and are unbeaten in their past 11 games in Boston (10 wins, one tie) since March 30, 1998.

Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon (shorthanded) and John Mitchell scored the unassisted goals, and Carl Soderberg scored for Colorado.
WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Bruins highlights
"Pretty solid road game," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "It's not easy to come in here and win. We found a way to score first, which was nice. ... We didn't have any passengers tonight. Guys were playing hard and [Pickard] was good in net when we needed him."
David Pastrnak scored twice, to give him five goals in the past three games, and Anton Khudobin made 18 saves for the Bruins (15-11-2), who lost in regulation for the first time in seven games (4-1-2) and had a three-game home winning streak end.
The Bruins were playing the second game of a back-to-back and trailed 3-0 for the second straight game. Boston lost at the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime Wednesday.
"I think we were still sleeping there early on in the game," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "They were able to capitalize on their opportunities and we just couldn't claw our way back."

Duchene put the Avalanche ahead 1-0 at 5:30 of the first period with Colorado's first 4-on-4 goal of the season. MacKinnon scored at 12:57 for a 2-0 lead. Mitchell kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and beat Khudobin at 4:09 of the second period for a 3-0 lead.
Pastrnak scored at 12:03 and 13:23 of the second period to make it 3-2. Pastrnak has 18 goals, tied with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead.
"He's been great all year long," Marchand said of Pastrnak. "You see the way he plays. He's able to make something out of nothing and able to turn the game around in a single play. So it's great to see that he's doing so well."
Soderberg made it 4-2 with a goal from the slot at 17:05 of the second period.

Goal of the game

Bruins defenseman Torey Krug tried to keep the puck in at the Colorado blue line with a dive but he couldn't get up and gain control. MacKinnon skated in on a breakaway before scoring his seventh goal of the season with a shot from the right hash mark.

Save of the game

Pickard robbed Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron with a blocker save on a shot from the slot at 3:47 of the third period.
"It's nice to come up with that save for the guys," Pickard said. "I thought the third period was our best period defensively. We really limited their chances."

Highlight of the game

Pastrnak scored his first goal on a breakaway with a backhand-to-forehand move and then a tap-in of a rebound.

Unsung performance of the game

Avalanche defenseman Francois Beauchemin had four blocked shots, none more important than on David Backes' point-blank scoring chance at 12:53 of the first period, just before MacKinnon's goal.

They said it

"It's just one of those plays, I thought instinctively I could get there and keep them hemmed in. You could tell even on the breakaway [MacKinnon] was tired. So if I keep that in, we keep them hemmed in, hopefully we get a couple chances." -- Bruins defenseman Torey Krug on his decision to dive for the puck before Nathan MacKinnon's goal
"I can't score at home, but we're on the road. I don't know what it is. But it was nice to get us off on the right foot tonight." -- Avalanche forward Matt Duchene, who has scored all of his 10 goals on the road

Need to know

Avalanche forward Jarome Iginla played in his 1,499th NHL game, tying Mike Modano for 16th place on the all-time list. ... Duchene's goal was his 166th of his NHL career, tying Valeri Kamensky for eighth on the Avalanche all-time list. ... Marchand has one assist in each of his past four games.

What's next

Avalanche: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, TVA Sports, ALT, NHL.TV).
Bruins: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, NESN, NHL.TV)