Avalanche Beat Ducks 4-2 Behind Goals in All Three Phases

Defeating the Ducks

The Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 at the Honda Center on Thursday to improve to 20-15-0 on the season. Nathan MacKinnon posted a goal and three points, while Parker Kelly, Valeri Nichushkin, and Cale Makar also scored for Colorado. In net for the Avs, Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves and picked up his fourth win with the team.

"I felt like our team did a nice job just adjusting because I felt like we came around in the second period," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said. "I think we out-chanced them. [We] had a couple of really good power-play looks. And [we were] chipping [in] in different ways. We get a power-play goal, we get a five-on-five goal, [and] we get a short-handed goal. And then the guys did a ncie job with the empty-net [goal]."

How It Happened

Anaheim's Leo Carlsson opened the scoring at 2:40 of the second period with a net-front deflection on Jacob Trouba's left-point shot.

Kelly evened the score with his third goal of the season at 6:40 of the middle frame while the Avs were shorthanded with a wrist shot from the slot off the rush after receiving Logan O'Connor's set-up feed. O'Connor started the rush after taking the puck away from Ducks forward Mason McTavish in Colorado's defensive zone.

Nichushkin scored his 10th tally of the year and extended his goal streak to three games when he gave the Avs a 2-1 lead at 10:57 of the second. After Makar's shot from the point trickled through Ducks goalie John Gibson's pads, Nichushkin was there to put the puck in the net.

Makar doubled the Avs' lead on the power play at 3:29 of the third with his 10th goal of the season via a right-circle wrist shot off a cross-ice feed from MacKinnon.

Alex Killorn pulled the Ducks within a goal at 13:05 of the third period with a goal from the slot.

MacKinnon restored Colorado's two-goal lead with his 14th goal of the year when he scored on an empty-net from outside the blueline at 18:39.

Next Up

The Avalanche return to Denver and host the Seattle Kraken on Sunday at 6 p.m. MT on Altitude and Altitude+.