Rapid Recap: Avalanche 4, Coyotes 2

The Colorado Avalanche earned a 4-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday at Ball Arena to finish the season with a 6-1-1 mark against the Coyotes.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to push his point streak to 10 games (seven goals, 10 assists), the longest active streak in the NHL and the longest by an Avalanche player in 2020-21. Mikko Rantanen found the back of the net twice and now has 25 goals this year and 300 points in his career.
Cale Makar also had a multi-point game with two assists in the victory. It was his seventh game this year with more than a point and his fifth outing with two or more helpers. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 35-of-37 saves and Brandon Saad opened the game's scoring with his 13th of the year.

The Coyotes finished the outing with a 37-20 edge in shots on goal. Michael Bunting and Johan Larsson each scored in the third period for Arizona, while goaltender Ivan Prosvetov made his first career NHL start and stopped 16-of-19 shots.

THE GOALS

1st Period
12:17 COL (1-0) -Tyson Jost won a faceoff back to Samuel Girard, who skated around the offensive zone and found Brandon Saad in the slot, and Saad scored with a backhand shot.
2nd Period
9:08 COL (2-0) - PPG, Nathan MacKinnon scored short-side from his spot at the left circle while the Avs were on the power play.
18:03 COL (3-0) - Mikko Rantanen scored his 24th of the year after his shot bounced off an Arizona defender and went five-hole.
3rd Period
10:42 ARI (3-1) - PPG, Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point deflected off Michael Bunting and into the net.
13:16 ARI (3-2) - Johan Larsson got to a loose puck in the high slot and scored to cut Colorado's lead in half.
18:03 COL (4-2) - Mikko Rantanen tallied his second of the game into an empty net. It was Rantanen's 300th career point.
Final: Avalanche - 4 | Coyotes - 2

3 STARS

Selected by Colorado Hockey Coach of the Game: Ryan Gilhooly (Boulder Hockey Club)

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 4
Arizona: 1 for 4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 35-of-37 saves.
Arizona: Ivan Prosvetov made his first career NHL start and stopped 16-of-19 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Mikko Rantanen had two goals in the contest and finished the season with 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in eight games against the Coyotes. It is the most points ever by a Colorado/Quebec player against Arizona/Winnipeg franchise, besting Peter Stastny's nine against the old Jets in 1981-82. His six goals against Arizona are tied with Joonas Donskoi this year for the most on the club.
His second goal was the 300th point of his NHL career. He is the fifth player from the 2015 NHL Draft to hit the 300-point mark.

NOTEBOOK

Nathan MacKinnon pushed his point streak to 10 games (seven goals, 10 assists), the longest active streak in the NHL and the longest by an Avalanche player in 2020-21. He has 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in his last 18 contests, the most of any player during that time span (since March 12)…Tyson Jost extended his assist/point streak to three games with a helper on Colorado's first tally. It is the longest assist streak of his career and tied for his longest point streak… Cale Makar had a multi-point game with two assists. It was his seventh game with more than one point this year and his fifth outing with two or more helpers... At 8:30 of the first period, there was a video review that overturned the ruling on the ice and determined that the puck entered Colorado's net legally. The Avalanche then challenged the play for goaltender interference and that resulted in a "no goal" call, overturning the previous ruling… The Avs are now 2-for-2 in coach's challenges this year... Colorado's defense has combined for a league-best 111 points (17 goals, 94 assists)... The Avs finished the year with a 6-1-1 mark against the Coyotes, their most wins against Arizona in a single season… Colorado is 8-1-0 in its last nine games and 16-1-2 in its last 19… The Avalanche is 18-4-2 at home (38 points), tied with the New York Islanders for the most points and wins... The Avs are 12-0-1 in their last 13 at Ball Arena... Colorado finished its seventh consecutive-night set. The team is a combined 10-1-3 in back-to-backs, 6-1-0 in the first game and 4-0-3 in the second.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

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ROSTER REPORT

Philipp Grubauer made his 33rd start of the season after not playing for the past two outings. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald returned to the lineup after missing the last two contests while serving a suspension. MacDonald began the matchup on a pairing with Keaton Middleton. Colorado acquired forward Carl Soderberg prior to the game in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Avs recalled Kiefer Sherwood prior to the game, and he joins D-man Kyle Burroughs, goaltender Jonas Johansson and forward Jayson Megna on Colorado's taxi squad.

INJURY UPDATE

Bowen Byram is in the league's COVID protocol and had been dealing with an upper-body injury as well prior to entering protocol on Friday. Matt Calvert (upper body) and Logan O'Connor (lower body) are listed as week-to-week. Prior to the outing, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said goaltender Pavel Francouz will be out for the rest of the year with a lower-body injury after requiring surgery and defenseman Erik Johnson will miss at least the remainder of the regular season with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Colorado hits the road for one outing at the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. The Avs then return home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and Sunday. Four of the Avalanche's next six games are against the Blues.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on 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
67 Keaton Middleton - 34 Jacob MacDonald
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
40 Devan Dubnyk