MacKinnon's Three-Point Night Leads Avalanche Past Wild 5-2 in Game Two to Take 2-0 Series Lead

Game Two Win

Nathan MacKinnon posted a goal and two assists to help the Avalanche defeat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 in Game Two of Round Two at Ball Arena on Tuesday. Martin Necas and Gabriel Landeskog each posted a goal and an assist for the Avs, while Nicolas Roy and Valeri Nichushkin both scored. In net for Colorado, Scott Wedgewood stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced.

"He was unbelievable tonight," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said about MacKinnon. "On both sides of the puck. The physicality the defending details, the hunger to check pucks back in all three zones and the speed and pace that he played with early in the game, it was like he was shot out of a cannon. I thought that was one of his best games of the playoffs, for sure."

Additionally, Colorado went 2/5 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill.

Bednar said the Avalanche's defensive performance in Game Two was much better than it was in Game One.

"The commitment was there," Bednar said. "The details were much better in all situations. It was a hard-fought game. The difference for me is special teams."

Postgame, Cale Makar was asked what the Avs did best on Tuesday and said the team did a lot.

"Our defending habits were quite a bit better,' Makar said. "I still think we can tighten up in a couple areas [like] letting them get to the net. Overall, it felt like we played a consistent game. Found the puck, put the puck in the right areas when we needed to."

How It Happened

Necas opened the scoring 2:51 into the game with his first goal of the playoffs via a backhand shot off the rush after he and MacKinnon combined on a give-and-go defensive-zone breakout.

The Wild tied the game at 2:57 of the first period when Kirill Kaprizov scored a breakaway goal.

Landeskog gave the Avs a 2-1 lead on the power play at 8:24 of the first period with his third goal of the playoffs via a one-timer from the low slot set up by MacKinnon's feed. With the primary assist on the goal, MacKinnon posted his 21st multi-point period in the playoffs and passed Joe Sakic for the most in franchise history.

Colorado doubled its lead at 1:24 of the second period when Roy scored his third goal of the playoffs via a shot from the slot off the rush.

MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead on the power play at 13:18 of the third period with his fourth goal of the playoffs via a left-circle one-timer. With that tally, MacKinnon scored his 59th-career playoff goal and passed Peter Forsberg for the second most in franchise history.

Additionally, MacKinnon became the sixth player in the last 40 years to post three-consecutive three-point playoff games.

Marcus Johansson made it a 4-2 game at 14:33 of the third period via a one-timer from the slot.

Colorado took a 5-2 lead at 19:55 of the third period when Nichushkin scored his first goal of the playoffs via an empty-net tally from outside of the right circle in the Avs' defensive zone.

Next Up

The Avalanche travels to Minnesota to face the Wild in Game Three of Round Two on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT on TNT, truTV, HBO Max, Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM and the Altitude Sports Radio App.