Avalanche score seven, end Rangers winning streak

The Colorado Avalanche scored five second-period goals and ended the New York Rangers' seven-game winning streak with a 7-3 win at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday.

Nathan MacKinnon ended a nine-game goal drought, and Logan O'Connor and Mikko Rantanen each scored twice for the Avalanche (14-7-2), who have won 10 of 13 games. Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists before leaving with an injury, and Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves in his return after missing five games with an upper-body injury.
"I liked some of the things offensively we did tonight," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We were shooting the puck again. We're starting to shoot it more when we get into some of those scoring areas. The power play looked again. … For the most part, I liked what we were doing on the offensive side of things."
Adam Huska made 32 saves in his first NHL start for the Rangers (17-5-3), who lost for the first time since Nov. 18.
"We just gave them too many scoring chances, too many opportunities," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We opened the door for them. We didn't play good, strong defense like we had to, and we talked about it. We turned some pucks over. They took advantage of it."

MacKinnon started the scoring in the second by tying it 2-2 with his second goal this season at 4:48. He stickhandled around Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller and used one hand for a poke through the five-hole, MacKinnon's first goal since Oct. 23.
Kadri deflected a shot from Cale Makar, giving Colorado a 3-2 lead at 6:11. He did not play the third period because of a lower-body injury. An update was not provided following the game.
Alex Newhook scored in a third straight game with a one-timer on a power play, making it 4-2 at 10:42.
O'Connor scored twice in 22 seconds. He dragged the puck past Miller for a shot that made it 5-2 at 17:14 before scoring on a breakaway, extending it 6-2 at 17:36 of the second.
"I think our offense was clicking there," O'Connor said. "I mean, it's clicked the past couple of games, obviously, and our team defense hasn't quite been there. But it was nice to have that second-period burst that we had going into the third. I think that definitely puts them down a couple notches and shifts the energy in the building."
Filip Chytil cut it to 6-3 on a one-timer at 11:52 of the third period before Rantanen tipped a shot from Erik Johnson for the 7-3 final at 13:25.
Jonas Johansson made one save in relief of Kuemper, who left for an equipment issue following Chytil's goal before returning after Rantanen scored.
"Missing a few games, you just want to come in and build your game as you go along," Kuemper said. "I felt more and more comfortable as the game went along. That was my goal."
Rantanen put the Avalanche up 1-0 with a shot off Huska's blocker and in at 4:11 of the first period, but Jacob Trouba tied it 1-1 on a wrist shot from the point at 6:56.
"We played a lot of good games in a row, won a lot of games," Trouba said. "Lose one, not going to sit there and dwell on it. … Move past it. Put it behind you. Worry about the next one."

Nils Lundkvist gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with his first NHL goal, a wrist shot on a power play at 18:15 of the first.
"I feel like you want to win every game," New York forward Barclay Goodrow said. "With the start that we had in the first period, battling back to have the lead after the first. Then the second period just got away from us."
NOTES: The Rangers hadn't allowed more than two goals in any of their previous six games. They had not surrendered more than six before Wednesday. … Colorado scored seven goals for a second straight game and the fifth time this season. It defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-5 on Monday … The Avalanche became the third team to score five goals in a period this season, joining the Montreal Canadiens (five goals in the third period at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 27) and the St. Louis Blues (five in the second period at the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 18). … MacKinnon has eight points (one goal, seven assists) on a five-game point streak. He returned for the start of the third period after taking a hit from Trouba and leaving at 11:11 of the second. … Gabriel Landeskog assisted on MacKinnon's goal to extend his point streak to nine games (12 points; three goals, nine assists).