Makar's OT Winner Lifts Avalanche Over Coyotes

The Colorado Avalanche topped the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Ball Arena as the Avalanche concluded their four-game homestand. Colorado is now 36-22-6 for their season record and rank third in the Central Division standings.

For the Avalanche, Cale Makar scored the overtime winner, while Denis Malgin and Nathan MacKinnon (1G, 1A - power play) scored in regulation. Mikko Rantanen handed out two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev turned aside 18 of the 20 shots he faced. The Avalanche utilized a lineup of 12 forwards and six defensemen.
For the Coyotes, Jack McBain and Clayton Keller scored. Connor Ingram made 41 saves on 44 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

The Avalanche came out with a strong start as they drew the game's opening strike just two minutes into play, but the Coyotes capitalized on two chances to hold a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Colorado got on the board early as Brad Hunt sent a cross-ice stretch pass into the offensive zone. After grabbing the puck off the side boards, Malgin skated towards the net and used a forehand-to-backhand move before lifting the puck past Ingram's blocker.

With a 1-0 lead, the Avalanche had the opportunity to build off their momentum as they received a power play at 2:27, but didn't convert.
The Coyotes then tied the score 1-1 at 6:50 as they capitalized on their first of two goals in the frame, both off quick-transition plays.
Off a quick zone entry where Byram lost an edge, the Coyotes implemented some quick passing across the Avalanche's zone before their defense could get set up. The play resulted in Lawson Crouse taking the puck to the net from the left faceoff circle, where Georgiev denied his backhanded chance, but McBain put the rebound away cleanly on the backdoor.
Late in the frame, Arizona then took a 2-1 lead as they entered the zone with Hayton carrying the puck below the goal line. Hayton pumped the brakes, turned and curled to face the net before sending a pass across the slot to Keller. From inside the right faceoff circle, Keller hesitated before sneakily slipping his shot through Georgiev's pads at 17:18.
Down 2-1, Colorado tilted the ice with a commanding effort in the second period where they outshot Arizona 14-8 and came up with an equalizer on a power play just over the game's midway mark.
The Avalanche started the second frame off with another power play at 2:14, but didn't convert and then seemingly tied the score up 2-2 at 6:31, but the goal was immediately waved off by the officials. It looked as though Malgin buried his second goal of the game as he put away the puck past Ingram's pads on the doorstep, but the Coyotes' netminder had previously clasped the puck in his glove to blow the play dead.

At 9:55, Colorado obtained its third power play of the game and this time, took advantage. As the Avalanche's unit was down to 30 seconds left on the man advantage the unit took a dynamic approach and picked up its movement and passing. Mikko Rantanen threaded a pass to MacKinnon, who skated into the right faceoff circle. The centerman stickhandled and then unleashed a sizzling wrist shot past Ingram's glove at 11:25 for the 2-2 equalizer and in doing so, extended his goal streak to four games.
The Avalanche put the pressure on in the third period and generated a whopping 19 shots and more impressively, held the Coyotes without a single shot for the 20-minutes. But despite their push, they weren't able to beat Ingram and the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, Makar collected a pass from MacKinnon drove to the net and tossed a backhander past Ingram's pad to seal the victory for the Avalanche.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Makar buried his 15th goal of the season and his fifth game-winning goal.
• Malgin tallied his eighth goal of the season and now has three goals in his last four games.
• MacKinnon buried his 28th goal of the season and his seventh goal on the power play. He also extended his goal streak to four games where he's scored four goals and compiled five points (4G, 1A). MacKinnon also set a franchise record as he scored in his ninth-straight home game to surpass eight-straight games with a goal previously set by Michel Goulet from Nov. 26, 1983-Jan. 3, 1984 and matched by Joe Sakic from Jan. 26-March 3, 2001.
• Georgiev made his 47th start of the season, improved his record to 28-14-5.
• Colorado finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill.
• Kurtis MacDermid (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Josh Manson (lower body) were scratches for the Avalanche.

NEXT GAME:

The Avalanche begin a four-game road trip in Montreal on Monday evening at the Bell Centre. The puck drops between the Avs and Canadiens at 5:30 p.m. MT.