MacKinnon's five points help Avalanche hold off Sabres

BUFFALO --Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and three assists to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-4 at KeyBank Center on Thursday.

"He's the leader for us every night and drives the bus, and he did it again tonight," Colorado forward J.T. Compher said. "He doesn't always get the goals, but it was nice to see him get a few tonight."
Compher had two goals and two assists, Cale Makar and Devon Toews each had two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves for the Avalanche (13-7-1), who are 1-1-0 to start a four-game road trip that began with a 5-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
"J.T. had a big night, too," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "That line [with Andrew Cogliano and Logan O'Connor] was really good in the checking side of it and helped produce a bunch of offense. They get the big timely goal to give us another cushion."

Dylan Cozens and Tage Thompson each had a goal and two assists, Jeff Skinner had two assists, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves for the Sabres (10-13-1), who have lost three straight at home (0-2-1).
"I thought we played really well 5-on-5. We gave them too many opportunities obviously with the penalties we took," Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said. "I thought we played a full 60 minutes, other than the penalties, and simple mistakes here or there that we just have to shore up because they have a lot of weapons over there."
Colorado was 3-for-6 on the power play, and Buffalo was 2-for-7.
Compher gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:48 of the first period, scoring short side off the stick of Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and over Luukkonen.
JJ Peterka scored on a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a pass from Jack Quinn to tie it 1-1 at 10:19.
Thompson gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead at 19:49 on a power play when he pulled Georgiev out of the crease and tucked the puck inside the left post.
"They have a lot of skill there and they kind of outwaited me and made it tough," Georgiev said. "A couple backdoor plays. They have some good players, too and you just have to keep going and not think too much about it."

After Buffalo defenseman Henri Jokiharju was called for hooking MacKinnon at 7:45 of the second period, and defenseman Owen Power was given a two-minute minor for high-sticking Artturi Lehkonen at 7:50, MacKinnon tied it 2-2 from the top of the left circle on the 5-on-3 at 9:00.
Lehkonen then pushed in a rebound at the side of the net on the remaining power play to give Colorado a 3-2 lead at 9:49.
"It was a big moment in the game and that was the best our power plays looked all year, in that 45 seconds," Bednar said. "I mean, we were getting a scoring chance on that every 10 seconds until it went in the net."

MacKinnon extended the lead to 4-2 at 11:53 with a snap shot from the high slot.
Cozens scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle during a two-man advantage to cut it to 4-3 at 14:05.
"I think he's been unbelievable," Samuelsson said of Cozens. "He's so fast and strong and he's been protecting the puck well. I know he's only 21, but he looks like a veteran playing with two younger guys. I think he's really taken the next step and it's fun to watch. I'm excited for what he has in store."
Compher restored the two-goal lead at 17:16 when a rebound bounced to him in the slot to make it 5-3.
Alex Tuch took a Rasmus Dahlin shot off the end boards and slid it five-hole seven seconds into the third period to cut it to 5-4.
"We've done a similar play, outside-in, play to a stretch, but I just felt like the [defensemen] were really staying up off the face-off if we won it back," Tuch said. "I told 'Dahls' to just send it off the Tim Hortons sign at the end and hopefully it was going to pop up to me and it ended up being perfect. It was a great play, great faceoff and pass by Dahls."

Mikko Rantanen scored an empty-net goal at 19:25 for the 6-4 final.
"The last three games, especially, it has been special teams," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "That has swung momentum. … We're turning pucks over that we could be turning into an opportunity on the offensive side."
NOTES: MacKinnon has five 5-point NHL games, tying Michel Goulet and Marian Stastny for fifth-most in Avalanche history. Peter Stastny is first with 12. ... Dahlin played his 300th NHL game. … Tuch tied Danny Gare (Dec. 17, 1978) for the third-fastest goal from the start of any period by a Sabres player. Alexander Mogilny has the fastest, scoring five seconds into the first period Dec. 21, 1991. … Tuch has 200 points (84 goals, 116 assists) in 328 NHL games with the Sabres, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights.