MacKinnon, Varlamov lead Avalanche past Panthers

DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Florida Panthers 2-1 at Pepsi Center on Thursday.
Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves for the Avalanche (15-14-2), who are 3-1-0 in their past four games.

WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Avalanche highlights]
"Nate is playing unbelievable right now," Varlamov said. "He's a very skilled guy and I'm glad to have him on our team."
MacKinnon put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 at 6:44 of the third period with his 13th goal. He took a pass from Mark Barberio, powered past defenseman Aaron Ekblad and shot under James Reimer's right arm.
Reimer, who made 28 saves, stopped MacKinnon two minutes earlier with his glove.
"I knew I was going short-side," MacKinnon said of the goal. "I didn't mean to put it low or high, I just kind of threw it and whacked at it again. I'm not sure if that helped it go in or not. After getting robbed, it was nice to get that one back."
Said Reimer: "It just kind of squeaked in somehow, but that happens. He was just coming around [Ekblad] and he can poke with his front hand. Obviously when you can do that with your front hand you have a few more options. You just have to try to take away as much as you can. Unfortunately, it just found a puck-sized hole."
MacKinnon has three two-goal games this season, matching his NHL career high. He has 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in his past 20 games.

"In October, I felt like I was playing pretty good," McKinnon said. "I played better in some of those games and didn't get anything, and I got some points where I didn't play that great the last month and a half. I play my worst when I think about getting points."
Aleksander Barkov scored his NHL-leading fourth shorthanded goal for the Panthers (12-15-5), who are 1-1-1 in the first three games of a five-game trip.
"I think we had a lot of chances, we just couldn't score," Barkov said. "Their goalie was pretty good and so was ours. We had a lot of chances, they just scored more goals."
Barkov tied the game 1-1 at 10:27 of the second period with his 11th goal. Jared McCann chased Avalanche rookie defenseman Samuel Girard behind the Colorado net and stole the puck. He fed Barkov driving to the net for a point-blank shot by Varlamov.

"[Girard] went back for it, he was a little casual with it and a good player tracked him down and created the turnover," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Young players, you're going to make a couple of those mistakes. He was a little sleepy on that one."
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:15 of the second period. Tyson Barrie slid a cross-ice pass to MacKinnon, whose one-timer beat Reimer to the short side.
"Obviously every point is important right now," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "Colorado just came back from a road trip, it's their first game home and that's a tough game for teams. We needed a goal in the first period, we needed to find that first one and not play from behind tonight."

Goal of the game

MacKinnon's game-winner at 6:44 of the third period.

Save of the game

Reimer robs MacKinnon at 4:44 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Barkov's goal at 10:27 of the second period.

They said it

"It was a huge win. We were talking about it this morning. In the next 15 games we have 12 home games so we have to take advantage and play at home like we did at the start of the year, and that's what we did." -- Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen
"We know where we're at in the standings. By the end of this month we need to be in the playoff picture, it would be easier to make the playoffs. Six or eight points out of the playoffs by the beginning of January, it's hard to play catch-up hockey." -- Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov
"It's very hard. He's one of the fastest guys in the league and a lot of the time he's on the ice he can make something happen. I feel like our defense did a good job tonight keeping him in check."-- Panthers forward Jared McCann on defending Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon

Need to know

Panthers forward Denis Malgin (upper body) skated in the morning but was scratched. He was injured Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. ... Barberio has a point in four consecutive games (one goal, three assists). ... Florida killed all three Colorado power plays and has killed 20 of 21 in the past six games. ... The Avalanche have failed to score on 17 straight power plays in the past five games.

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What's next

Panthers: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Avalanche:Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, SUN, NHL.TV)