Avalanche extend home winning streak to 17 with OT victory against Bruins

DENVER -- Cale Makar scored a power-play goal at 3:01 of overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their home winning streak to 17 games with a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

The Avalanche went on the power play at 1:14 when Bruins defenseman Mike Reilly was penalized for tripping Valeri Nichushkin.
Makar shot from the left point, using Gabriel Landeskog as a screen.
"[He] made a great screen in front and I saw an opening and decided to shoot it," Makar said.
Colorado tied it 3-3 with 37 seconds remaining in the third period when Nazem Kadri passed to Landeskog for a one-timer from the right circle with goalie Darcy Kuemper on the bench for a sixth skater.

Samuel Girard and Kurtis MacDermid scored, Kadri had three assists, and Kuemper made 29 saves for Colorado (30-8-3), which hasn't lost at home since Nov. 3, 5-4 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They have won eight straight since a 5-4 overtime loss at the Nashville Predators on Jan. 11.
"You're trying to extend the streak you got going," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Guys don't want to lose. We were committed to our team game tonight against a really good team. To be able to stick with it, it's the belief. That's our biggest win of the year."
Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk scored, and Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for Boston (24-13-3), which is 7-2-1 in the past 10 games and 9-1-2 in the past 12 on the road.
"You've got to keep playing hockey," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You've got to keep playing. We're usually pretty good at that. We didn't get it done and we paid the price."
Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon didn't return after he sustained a head injury in the first period on a hit by Bruins forward Taylor Hall. MacKinnon was down on the ice and bleeding from his face before being helped to the dressing room at 2:22.
Hall was initially called for a major penalty but following a video review it was reduced to a minor for interference after it was determined that MacKinnon was hit with his own stick.
"Not good enough to return to the game, so we'll see what tomorrow presents," Bednar said. "I had a chance to review it and the way he catches him, Nate's stick was up, so I believe they probably made the right call, but it's the type of hit the league's trying to get rid of."
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead at 11:25 of the first period on MacDermid's first goal of the season. Andre Burakovsky passed from the corner to MacDermid, who shot from above the face-off circles with Nichushkin screening Ullmark.

DeBrusk tied it 1-1 at 7:10 of the second period on a 2-on-1 and shot under Kuemper's left arm.
Coyle made it 2-1 at 12:16 during a 5-on-3 power play with Burakovsky and Erik Johnson in the penalty box. Coyle backhanded the rebound of Charlie McAvoy's shot.
Marchand increased the lead to 3-1 at 13:31. He beat Kuemper to the far side from the left circle off a drop pass from David Pastrnak two seconds after Johnson's cross-check against Hall expired.
"They're a good team for a reason," Coyle said. "They're not just going to sit back and let us have that in the third. I think we expected a push. We wanted to keep playing the same way. They came hard and it's unfortunate. Linus played such a great game and he deserved better from us in that third."
Girard cut it to 3-2 at 11:46 of the third period when his shot skipped past Bruins forward Curtis Lazar and went in off the left post.
"It's a momentum swing for us," Landeskog said. "Going into the third period we knew we had a chance to win the game. We're never out of it."
NOTES: The Avalanche's 17 straight home wins is the fifth-longest in NHL history. The 2011-12 Detroit Red Wings own the NHL record of 23. … Colorado is 23-0-2 when scoring first this season. … Pastrnak has scored 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Boston has scored a power-play goal in seven straight games, going 9-for-21 (42.9 percent). … MacDermid was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Kraken on July 27 after he was selected by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. … The Avalanche won their 13th game in January, the most in their history, and tied the NHL record for January (Carolina Hurricanes, 2006; Washington Capitals, 2010). ... Makar has scored 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists) in 37 games. Among Avalanche defensemen, only Steve Duchesne scored 40 points faster (32 games, 1992-93). … The Avalanche is the first team since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96 (six) to have five or more players score at least 40 points at the halfway point of their season (Kadri, 55; Mikko Rantanen, 49; MacKinnon, 43; Makar, 41; Landeskog, 41). … Colorado forward J.T. Compher played his 300th NHL game.