Kadri's three points help Avalanche surge past Red Wings

DENVER -- Nazem Kadri had two goals and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 6-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Pepsi Center on Monday.

Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals, and Andre Burakovsky, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Nikita Zadorov each had two assists for Colorado (28-15-6), which has won three straight after going 0-2-2 in its previous four games. Pavel Francouz made 22 saves.
"That was much needed," Kadri said of Colorado going 3-0-2 on its five-game homestand. "We struggled a little bit at home a few weeks ago, and that mentally wears on you, it takes a toll on you, but we were able to figure it out. We know if we play the way we can, we're going to give ourselves opportunities every single night. That's our main focus."
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Avalanche highlights]
Dylan Larkin had a goal and two assists, and Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit (12-34-4), which has lost five straight (0-4-1). Jimmy Howard made 40 saves but dropped to 0-13-2 in his past 15 starts.
"We wouldn't have been in the game if he hadn't played as well as he played, so he was excellent," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said of Howard. "He's been really good the last three games. He looks like he's on top of his game."

Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period. Larkin stole the puck from Zadorov behind the net and sent a cross-crease pass to Bertuzzi at the right post.
Kadri tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 1:02 of the second period when he redirected Makar's point shot.
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 2:56 after receiving a backdoor pass at the left post from Makar. With the assist, Makar has 37 points this season (11 goals, 26 assists), tying Bruce Bell (1984-85) for the most by a rookie defenseman in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history.
"We wanted to put some points on the board for our team on this homestand," Makar said. "We did that, and at the end of the day, it's going to be nice going [into the All-Star] break. Hopefully we can continue this success coming back."

Kadri made it 3-1 at 4:19 of the third period on a one-timer. It was his 17th goal of the season after scoring 16 last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Kadri played to his strengths," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Power-play goal he comes cruising through the slot, he's the screen, he gets the tip, he scores. He scores on the back side in the third."
Matt Nieto extended the lead to 4-1 at 5:12 with a one-timer off a pass from Tyson Jost.
Larkin cut it to 4-2 at 7:02 with a backhand over the glove of Francouz, but Ryan Graves pushed the lead to 5-2 at 13:59 with a slap shot from the left point.
"I think we just played the right way," Graves said. "I think we stuck to it. There was a little bit of sloppiness at points in the game, but we've been playing some good hockey as of late and we just believed in our group that we were going to come through and beat these guys in the end."

Givani Smith made it 5-3 at 17:57 at the right post before MacKinnon scored his 30th of the season into an empty net for the 6-3 final.
"I shoot a lot of pucks, so I have to score," MacKinnon said. "I've had a lot of help. It's nice to be on a really good team. I think that helps make it easy. You get cheesy goals like I did and an [empty-net goal]. It's nice to win three in a row heading into the break."

They said it

"There's a lot of players in here that are still trying to prove themselves, and we should be proving ourselves every day. We deserve better, but we have to stay in it and work for each other."-- Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin
"It feels like our team was under fire here, warranted or not, a week ago, 10 days ago, and here we are. It's a five-game homestand and we went 3-0-2, points in all five. It looks good on our team. They worked hard, they deserve it." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

Red Wings defenseman Mike Green left with an upper-body injury in the second period, and forward Frans Nielsen left with an upper-body injury in the first period. Blashill did not provide an update on either player. … MacKinnon joined Joe Sakic (2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07) as the only players in Avalanche history to score at least 30 goals in three straight seasons. … Burakovsky has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the past six games.

What's next

Red Wings:At the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN)
Avalanche:At the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 1 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSP+, ALT, NHL.TV)