Avalanche score seven without MacKinnon in victory against Canucks

DENVER -- Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena on Thursday.

"I would say today we put the whole package together," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We've done it a couple of times now, but the picture should be getting clearer and clearer for our players that this is the way we have to play in order to have success.
"I think they're buying into that, so getting a 7-1 win and playing the right way and with the right habits and sustaining it for the better part of 60 minutes is real important for them to get those results."
Logan O'Connor and Devon Toews each had a goal and an assist, Cale Makar and Samuel Girard each had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for Colorado (5-5-1), which played without center Nathan MacKinnon, who is expected to miss three weeks with a lower-body injury.
"I think that was huge for us, probably one of our most complete games of the year," Toews said. "Defensively and offensively, we were on tonight. For a full 60 that was a big effort from us. Our job now is to just keep it going and string some [wins] together here. Just one isn't good enough."

Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver (5-7-2), which has gone 2-5-1 in the past eight games. Thatcher Demko allowed six goals on 26 shots in two periods. Jaroslav Halak made eight saves in relief.
"We weren't close tonight, obviously," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "They looked like a team that's trying to find their game, a team that thinks about winning the Stanley Cup. We looked like we had a bunch of guys who were a half-step behind and we weren't close tonight."
Valeri Nichushkin converted the rebound of Nazem Kadri's shot on the power play to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:18 of the first period.
Gabriel Landeskog made it 2-0 at 7:34 with a tap-in from outside the right post off a pass from Makar.
Rantanen increased the lead to 3-0 at 11:10. Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram poked the puck away from Elias Pettersson and Rantanen shot glove side.
"We should be embarrassed," Canucks forward Bo Horvat said. "We obviously didn't come to play tonight. They outplayed us. It's unacceptable and we can't let it happen again. They came out strong and looked like they wanted to win a hockey game, and we didn't. We didn't show any sign of response. That's just not the way we want to play. That's not the way we want to approach games."

O'Connor made it 4-0 at 11:05 of the second period with a shot inside the right post off a Girard pass.
O'Connor fed Darren Helm for a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 at 16:32 for a 5-0 lead and Toews made it 6-0 at 19:54 with a shot from the right point.
"I was calling for [Helm] to sort of get on our horse there," O'Connor said. "It all starts with him, beating his guy up the ice. I didn't have a play, so I gave it over to him and he made a great play getting up the ice."
Hoglander put in a backhand at 1:08 of the third period to cut it to 6-1 but Rantanen scored on the power play at 11:49 for the 7-1 final.
"I think both units were playing really well," Rantanen said of the power play. "We've had some meetings, it hasn't been good enough, so it was a step forward, and now we have to stay consistent on that."
Compher's goal came during a match penalty against Vancouver defenseman Tucker Poolman for a hit against Kiefer Sherwood.
Bednar said Byram would be re-examined Friday after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period on a hit from Horvat.
NOTES:Vancouver has allowed at least one power-play goal in seven straight games and 16 goals in 43 shorthanded situations this season (62.8 percent, last in NHL). … Canucks forward J.T. Miller had an assist and has scored eight points (five goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak. … Vancouver defenseman Jack Rathbone played 16:08 after being recalled from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Landeskog has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past four games. … Nichushkin played 17:17 after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. … Kadri had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists). … Landeskog played his 696th game to tie Alain Cote for sixth in Avalanche history. … Makar returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury.