MacKinnon scores twice in 3rd, Avalanche defeat Devils

DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Martin Necas had three assists, and Artturi Lehkonen, Casey Mittelstadt and Logan O'Connor scored for the Avalanche (34-24-2), who had lost two straight since returning from the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Cale Makar had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves.

“We need points, we know that, but it's nice to win. I think even more than winning, it's nice to play the right way,” Blackwood said. “I think we played kind of almost to a T the game plan that we set out to play at the start of the game. So, I give these guys a lot of credit. They were fed the game plan, they went out and executed it hard all night long, and it was fun to watch.”

Jack Hughes scored for the Devils (32-22-6), who have alternated wins and losses in their past 10 games (5-5-0). Jake Allen allowed five goals on 36 shots before leaving the game with 1:42 remaining due to cramping. Nico Daws replaced him and did not face a shot.

“I thought we had our share of chances, especially in that second period. But even in the first period we had a couple and the game's right there,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The game just kind of gets away at the end there, but we're right there all the way throughout despite being outplayed a little bit.”

Lehkonen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 8:54 of the first period. Necas forced a turnover by Brett Pesce behind the net and passed out front to Lehkonen, who beat Allen five-hole with a backhand from the top of the crease.

“That was a huge game for our team because morale was kind of low coming out of the two road games,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We want to embrace this stretch run, right? That's what we want to do. We want to enjoy it, we want to embrace it, we want to use the pressure to push our game to another level consistently.”

MacKinnon extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 2:57 of the third period. He scored into an open net from along the goal line after Allen couldn't track the rebound of Necas’ initial one-timer.

“It's just a different setup I think. I'm going to the net a little bit more with [Necas],” MacKinnon said of the power play. “He was such a good half-wall player in Carolina. Obviously, I watched a lot of video on him when he came here, and he was so good on the half wall. So, I don't want to hog it too much, and I think a little rotation is always pretty good. I think it confuses them a little bit.”

Hughes cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:28, scoring with a one-timer from the high slot under the glove of Blackwood.

“Those quick goals that they had there gave them some more life after Jack put one in,” Devils forward Dawson Mercer said.

MacKinnon scored his second power-play goal of the period to make it 3-1 at 14:14. He batted the puck out of the air near the left post after Makar's shot hit off the end boards and the back of the net.

“Couple easy ones,” MacKinnon said. “Usually I don't get those."

Mittelstadt pushed it to 4-1 at 16:40, skating into a loose puck and shoveling in a backhand from the bottom of the right circle. O’Connor then redirected Parker Kelly’s centering pass at the top of the crease to make it 5-1 at 18:18.

“It helps [with] just confidence, morale," Bednar said. "If you're feeling good about your game and you know you're playing hard and playing well, part of it is you got to get rewarded every once in a while."

NOTES: MacKinnon extended his home point streak to 15 games (10 goals, 14 assists). He also scored his 100th career power-play goal, tying Mikko Rantanen for the fifth-most in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. Only Joe Sakic (205), Michel Goulet (147), Milan Hejduk (140) and Peter Stastny (120) have scored more. ... Lehkonen scored his 20th goal since Dec. 1, which is the fourth is the NHL behind Leon Draisaitl (26), David Pastrnak (22) and Mark Scheifele (21). ... Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin returned after missing 21 games with a lower-body injury. He finished with five shots in 17:46 of ice time. ... Devils forward Timo Meier played in his 600th NHL game.