O’Connor gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 2:23 of the second period. He grabbed the puck after Kevin Shattenkirk and Pavel Zacha collided in their own zone, turned and stick-handled down on Swayman before beating him glove side on the breakaway.
“I was fortunate enough that they sort of ran into each other a little bit,” O’Connor said. “The puck squirted out to me there and just wanted to get it off my tape quick. It was definitely a hard fought game, but it's huge to get the two points there with the tough schedule we have right now.”
Beecher tied it 2-2 at 10:05, scoring off the rebound of Danton Heinen’s wraparound shot.
Malinski put the Avalanche ahead 3-2 at 17:56 of with a wrist shot from the blue line. He was recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Monday morning.
“Any time you're able to contribute to a big win, it feels good, and I think considering it's my first game back, it makes it a little bit more special,” Malinski said. “I was just trying to get a puck down to the net. The guy was in my lane, so I kind of had to do a little stutter there, and pushed back on my forehand and just kind of ripped it down to the net. Luckily it went in.”
Marchand tied it 3-3 at 5:46 of the third period when he crashed the far side of the net and redirected Charlie Coyle’s cross-zone pass.
“The whole line did a great job just controlling the puck in the O-zone and having good possession time,” Marchand said. “I just tried to drive the net, open up a lane or something, and ‘CC’ did a great job kind of seeing me going there, and made a great play to throw it off my body.”
Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
NOTES: MacKinnon has 45 points (16 goals, 29 assists) during his 22-game home point streak. He also extended his current point streak to five games (three goals, seven assists). … MacKinnon’s assist was his 267th career power-play point, moving him into sole possession of the fifth place in Avalanche/Nordiques history. … Marchand passed Rick Middleton for sole possession of fifth place on Boston’s all-time scoring list with 899 points (389 goals, 510 assists). … Coyle extended his point streak to seven games (four goals, five assists). … Avalanche forward Jason Polin made his NHL debut and finished with 4:22 of ice time.