Rantanen scores in 4th straight game, Avalanche defeat Flames

DENVER --Mikko Rantanen scored for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Nathan MacKinnon scored to extend his point streak to seven games (seven goals, eight assists), but his multipoint game streak ended at six.
"It's been fun. Physically, I think we all feel good," MacKinnon said. "It will be nice when we get some guys back though. I don't know when, but eventually it'll be good. We're definitely playing a lot with 11 forwards, so we could use a twelfth."
Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for the Avalanche (33-19-5), who completed their third straight back-to-back set, going 5-0-1.
"I thought the team was fantastic this weekend. Two really good, solid, complete games on both sides of the puck, so it's a real nice finish," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "That's what the League requires in order to win at this time of the year."

Nazem Kadri had an assist for the Flames (27-21-12) in his
first game in Colorado since winning the Stanley Cup
with the Avalanche last season. Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves.
"Obviously, they came out and scored on their first couple shots. So obviously a hot start, and it's tough to recover after that," Kadri said. "I felt like we showed some pushback, but at the end of the day it just wasn't enough."
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period when he picked up a loose puck, skated into the right circle and scored near post on a wrist shot.
"It's huge. In every team we played, we're kind of in the battle for a playoff spot. Just crazy," MacKinnon said. "They're all waiting for us each time, too, so it wasn't like they're on a back to back as well, so it's been a weird schedule, the whole week off and then another back to back, but we're hopefully getting a start to our rhythm more here. [We] play more frequently every other day, which is definitely preferable."

Alex Newhook extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:22 when his slap shot from above the left circle found its way through traffic.
"Great traffic going to the net," Bednar said. "[We] break the goalie's eyesight. It was a great shot. Yeah, bar in. When you're getting depth scoring, it's a difference between playing really tight games or being able to continue to use the whole bench and not cruise to victories, but at least you got a little breathing room at the end of the game."
Rantanen made it 3-0 at 2:42 of the second period when Valeri Nichushkin's one-timer deflected off his glove in front for a power-play goal.
Tyler Toffoli cut the lead to 3-1 with his own power-play goal at 17:20 when his angled shot from below the goal line caromed off the extended skate of Georgiev. It was his 25th goal of the season.
"Obviously, they had a really good first period against us," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "We had a lot of good chances, so it could have been closer, that's for sure."
Denis Malgin pushed it to 4-1 at 4:12 of the third period. He made a move above the circles to cut between two defenders before shooting over Markstrom's shoulder.
"I had good speed and I saw three guys in front of me," Malgin said. "I saw the little opening there. I just moved the puck there and, yeah, then I shot it."
NOTES: Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid left the game in the second period after a fight with Flames forward Milan Lucic. There was no update. … Nichushkin (two goals, three assists) and Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram (three goals, two assists) each extended his point streak to four games. … Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. … Kadri finished with four shots in 18:24. ... Flames forward Mikael Backlund had his four-game goal streak and five-game point streak (four goals, four assists) end. … The Avalanche honored 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Herb Carnegie prior to the game.