Avalanche ease past Ducks, keep pace in Central Division race

ANAHEIM -- Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Monday.

The Avalanche remained in second place in the Central Division, one point behind the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Monday. Colorado has a game in hand.
"We've been able to collect some points," Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram said. "We're in a tight race, so it means a lot."
Byram also had a goal and an assist, Cale Makar had two assists, and Jonas Johansson made 29 saves in his second start this season for Colorado (44-23-6), which has won three straight, nine of 10 and six in a row on the road, including 4-3 in a shootout at the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

Derek Grant scored, and John Gibson made 39 saves for Anaheim (23-41-10), which lost its fifth in a row to finish 1-6-1 on an eight-game homestand.
"It's obviously a tough time of year for us," Ducks forward Ryan Strome said. "With things winding down and knowing our place in the standings, these are hard games, but I think playing against these good teams teaches us a lot of good lessons."
Grant gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 12:08 of the first period. Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg retrieved a Makar turnover and made a backhand pass to Grant, who banked the puck off the inside of Johansson's right pad.
"We did a good job of beating the icing and then we just got in on our forecheck, tried to stay tight and pressure [Makar] to make him make a tough play and that kind of happened," Silfverberg said. "I had it on my backhand and was thinking about shooting, but [Grant] made a good call, he called for the puck and I just kind of slung it in there and it managed to find its way in."
The Avalanche tied it 1-1 at 15:43 when Byram's wrist shot sailed through traffic and past Gibson. Byram has four goals in his past nine games.
"I've just been trying to shoot the puck," Byram said. "Our forwards battle in front of the net to try and get screens, so I just shoot it, get it there for them, and a couple have gone in for me, so I'm happy about that."

MacKinnon gave Colorado a 2-1 lead with eight seconds left in the first period. He spun away from Ducks defenseman Scott Harrington and scored with a wrist shot on the short side.
"I was looking to pass there," MacKinnon said. "They kind of play passive a little bit in their [defensive] zone, so (Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin) did a great job screening and I managed to find the short side."
Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson scored his first goal since Oct. 13, 2021, on a wrist shot from the left point for a 3-1 lead at 2:05 of the second period.
Nichushkin scored off a backdoor pass from MacKinnon to make it 4-1 at 3:46.
"I think we were just trying to find our game early on a back to back," MacKinnon said. "We'd like to have a better start, but got the lead."

Colorado scored on the power play for the 12th straight game when defenseman Samuel Girard put in a rebound at 4:22 of the third period for the 5-1 final.
"You see the way their [defense] activates, how confident they are out there and how they skate and forecheck," Strome said of the Avalanche. "There are a lot of great lessons we can learn from these teams. That's what I take from it, hopefully other guys do too."
NOTES: Ducks center Trevor Zegras did not play in the third because of a lower-body injury that occurred earlier in the game. … Anaheim forward Troy Terry missed the game for personal reasons. ... Colorado has swept six of its past eight back-to-back sets. ... Colorado's longest power-play streak is 14 games in the 1995-96 season. ... Gibson made at least 35 saves for the NHL-leading 24th time this season. Gibson came in with 1,682 saves, the most in the NHL through 50 games since Gump Worsley of the New York Rangers had 1,757 saves through 50 games in the 1962-63 season.