Necas has four points, Blackwood stops 27 to help Avalanche blank Red Wings

DENVER -- Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche shut out the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Blackwood made 13 saves in the first period to keep the game 0-0 before the Colorado offense got going. The shutout was his first of the season and the 18th of his career.

“It's not like the most important thing, obviously. It's more like doing the right stuff, liking my game, liking the reads and everything,” Blackwood said. “But yeah, it's nice to be rewarded. I mean, I thought I've been kind of stringing some good games together. Obviously, they're going to score goals in the NHL most nights, but whenever you can come away with zero, it's a good feeling.”

Martin Necas scored two goals and had two assists, and Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche (10-6-2), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games.

“There was no passengers on the bench tonight. I liked everybody's game,” said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. “We were just getting different contributions, like throughout. I felt like when we got momentum, we were able to keep it because we were playing everybody, and everyone was doing a job. So it was a great effort from our team.

“I thought we played with good pace and when the power play kind of does what it did tonight, it's a huge boost for our team.”

Daniil Tarasov made 25 saves for the Red Wings (7-8-3), who have lost three straight and four of their past six (2-4-0).

“I was really happy with our start. First period was excellent. We did a lot of things we wanted to do,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “It would have been nice to find a way to sneak one behind the goaltender and go in with the lead. But then the second period starts and we took -- or no, actually we didn't take, we were called for five penalties in 10 minutes. And that really changed the game, obviously.

“We had to overuse guys. Other guys sat there cold. Their star players got a lot of touches, and they moved the puck around well. Obviously, scored. So it was it was frustrating that way, and we didn't deal real well with our emotions. I didn't think so.”

Necas scored a power-play goal to make it 1-0 at 9:46 of the second period. He waited patiently at the right side of the crease during a goal-mouth scramble and the puck snuck under Tarasov right to him for the open-net finish.

“I think it was good. I think first period, we didn't play our best. (Blackwood) made some huge saves, and then we got it going,” said Necas. “I think I think a defense-first mentality, it always helps. We know we're dynamic offensively, but if we shut it down defensively, (Blackwood) helps us out, then it's hard to beat us.”

MacKinnon scored a power-play goal at 12:30 to make it 2-0. He one-timed Makar’s pass top shelf far side from behind the left dot.

Necas extended it to 3-0 at 7:15 of the third period after he batted in the airborne rebound of MacKinnon’s initial shot at the right post. Tarasov made a blocker save, and the puck went up above him, and Necas was able to backhand it in behind the goalie.

“I think special teams and these little things, they get us going. It's hard to score 5-on-5 in this league all the time,” Necas said. “So you need a little help from the power play, and then it brings the momentum on your side."
 
Makar made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 9:45. His wrister from the top of the right circle went short side past the glove.

“I thought he was outstanding today. I thought he was really good,” said Bednar. “He was great right from the drop of the puck, and he wanted to play lots, and that's the Cale we need. That's the Cale we're used to, and he's been working at it to try and get his game back. But tonight he turned the corner completely, and yeah, I think he can just continue to go.”

NOTES: Blackwood’s win came in his 90th career game with the Avalanche. His 54 wins through that number are tied with Patrick Roy for the second most in franchise history behind Alexander Georgiev (57). … Makar recorded his 49th career three-point game with Colorado and passed Milan Hejduk for eighth place on the franchise’s all-time list. … MacKinnon played in his 968th career game and passed Adam Foote for third place on the franchise’s all-time list.