MacKinnon has goal, assist for Avalanche in win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.

MacKinnon has three straight multipoint games (four goals, three assists) and has scored in four of five games since the NHL All-Star break.
"I feel like he's picking up his game here recently," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "The bigger the moment, the better he plays. Last night, the night before, I thought he was great. And then tonight, he kind of led the charge for us, especially on the offensive side of it. Looked like he had good legs. He's making plays and getting dangerous on a bunch of occasions."

Andrew Cogliano and Denis Malgin scored, and Devon Toews had two assists for the Avalanche (29-19-5), who have won two of their past three games and moved two points ahead of Minnesota for third place in the Central Division.
It was Georgiev's second start in as many days; he made 32 saves in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov scored, and Mats Zuccarello had two assists for the Wild (28-21-5), who have lost five of six (1-4-1). Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves.
''We played great. We didn't get a reward,'' Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. ''Obviously, it's a results league and we're [ticked] off that we didn't get two points. How do you not feel good about the way you played, right? Yeah, we're frustrated with the end result and they'll be very mad and disappointed, which is great. They'll come back hungry and ready to go (against the Dallas Stars on Friday).''
Cogliano gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 15:14 of the first period. After a breakout pass from Samuel Girard, Toews skated into the offensive zone and fed Cogliano in the left face-off circle, where he shot past Fleury glove side.

Georgiev made 17 saves in the first.
"We know the standings and we know the other team is close to us," Georgiev said. "We knew it was three points for us, and kind of every game now for us now is playoff intensity. We know we have to get points and get higher up in the standings for sure."
Malgin extended the lead to 2-0 at 2:20 of the second period with a shot from the slot.
Eriksson Ek cut it to 2-1 at 7:09 on a power play, redirecting Zuccarello's shot.
"We played good, but it doesn't really matter when the outcome is losing," Eriksson Ek said.
MacKinnon made it 3-1 with a shot that beat Fleury five-hole at 16:29.
Fleury allowed two goals on four shots in the second.
"'Flower's' been fantastic too, right? Flower's been fantastic too, let's not forget," Evason said of Fleury. "Of course, he's frustrated. Of course. If you talk to him and he perceives a bad goal, he's accountable."
Kaprizov scored at 14:07 of the third period with a backhand from the left circle for the 3-2 final.

NOTES: Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson returned from a lower-body injury and had an assist, four hits and five blocked shots in 20:35 of ice time in his first game since Dec. 1. … Colorado defenseman Cale Makar missed his fourth straight game with a head injury. … MacKinnon scored his 48th career game-winning goal and passed Michel Goulet for third in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history (Joe Sakic, 86; Milan Hejduk, 59). … It was Zuccarello's 12th multipoint game this season; Kaprizov leads the Wild with 15.