Avalanche score four in third, surge past Devils

DENVER -- Nazem Kadri and Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Parker Kelly, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon each scored, and Brent Burns and Sam Malinski each had two assists for the Avalanche (7-5-1), who had lost four of their past six games (2-3-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves in his 300th NHL game.

"I thought it was a good, solid effort from all of our guys. We get contributions from everybody,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “Growth for me was there was a simplicity to our offense. It was highly effective, and it's not just because it was the Devils and the way they play. Like I think it's repeatable, regardless of your opponent.”

With his assists, Burns reached 950 career points (273 goals, 677 assists) and passed Erik Karlsson and Chris Chelios for sole possession of the 10th-most by a defenseman in NHL history.

Connor Brown scored twice for the Devils (8-5-0), who had won four straight, including 5-1 at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Jake Allen made 39 saves.

“I thought our team played really hard tonight. Gave us everything that they had,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Obviously, starts with Jake Allen, who had a ton of work coming towards him. But I thought our guys battled real hard, which is why you know we led most of the game and gave ourselves a chance to compete for points in the third period. Obviously, the dam broke on us, but not a lack of fight or compete from our guys here today.

“They gave us a lot, but clearly we just didn't have enough here tonight. That's a tough back-to-back."

Brown scored a short-handed goal at 12:21 of the first period to make it 1-0 New Jersey. He intercepted MacKinnon’s centering pass in the defensive zone, pushed down the ice to create a 2-on-1 rush with Luke Hughes, and attempted a pass that caromed off the left skate of Cale Makar and through Blackwood's pads.

“They had more energy and on top of that, we’re on a back-to-back, so credit to them. They did a really good job,” Brown said. “I think they were pissed off about last week (a 4-3 loss in New Jersey), and that’s a team that’s a really good hockey team. I thought we battled hard.

“They did to us, tonight, what we’ve been doing to teams.”

Landeskog tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:58 of the second period, putting home Schwartz's cross-crease pass past Allen's left pad at the right post. Landeskog initially passed to Devon Toews high above the middle of the circles before crashing the net for Schwartz’s feed.

“It felt good. It felt like one of those games (where) it felt like we were carrying the play and dominating for stretches,” Landeskog said, “but they're also kind of scary games to play because, especially against a team like that, they don't need many chances. So it felt good to get one, and then we thought it was kind of going to break there in the second period. It didn’t. Took until the third, and we just stuck with it and then got rewarded eventually.”

The Avalanche scored four unanswered goals in the third period to take a three-goal lead.

Kadri put Colorado ahead 2-1 at 2:45 after he finished Nicolas Roy’s pass into an open net at the left post. Roy appeared ready to shoot as he drifted toward the right circle but sent a pass to Kadri past the right leg of Allen.

“I was definitely yelling for it, for sure. It's a great play by him,” Kadri said. “I had a feeling like he was going to find me, and I was ready on the back side there. But I think we did a great job getting to the net, getting the puck to the net, and then trying to outnumber them there.”

Kelly extended the lead to 3-1 at 3:47 with a wrist shot from the right dot that went short side past the glove of Allen.

"Great release, I think. I loved his patience on the play,” Kadri said. “He just let the defender kind of sink off of him. Created some room. Think he was looking pass to start but kind of looked the goaltender off. Great shot. Great shot by him.”

Said Kelly: “Honestly, shooting was my last thought. I felt like I looked at every option.”

MacKinnon scored on a breakaway to push it to 4-1 at 12 minutes of the period. He split Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce in the neutral zone, entered on the left side, cut into the slot, and fired a wrist shot under Allen's glove.

Schwartz made it 5-1 just 30 seconds later when he finished the rebound of Malinski’s initial shot into the open net past a scrambling Allen. Malinski’s shot from above the right circle ricocheted to Schwartz inside the left circle.

Brown scored his second of the game to cut the deficit to 5-2 at 15:35, backhanding the rebound of Amadeus Lombardi’s shot into the net beyond the blocker of a sprawling Blackwood.

“He’s one of those guys who is constantly working hard, no matter if he’s on the first line or the fourth line. He can play any role you want to throw at him,” Devils forward Cody Glass said of Brown. “It’s always a pleasure to have guys like that, who don’t care about individual success, and usually those are the ones who get rewarded, the guys who put the team first.”

Colorado defenseman Josh Manson left the game at 15:19 of the first period with a lower-body injury after falling awkwardly after a missed body check.

“He’s going to miss some time,” Bednar said.

NOTES: Burns has collected 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) since turning 40 – tied with Allan Stanley (seven goals, 40 assists) for the fifth-most by a defenseman age 40 or older in NHL history behind Nicklas Lidstrom (96), Chelios (92), Zdeno Chara (82) and Tim Horton (66). ... Burns factored on a game-winning goal for the 161st time in his career. He ranks fourth among all defensemen in NHL history behind Ray Bourque (226), Lidstrom (201) and Paul Coffey (183). ... Roy finished with one assist and was plus-1 in 11:26 of ice time in his return to the lineup after missing six games with a lower-body injury. … With the win, Bednar tied Joel Quenneville (452 with the Chicago Blackhawks) for the ninth-most coaching wins with a single franchise in League history. ... Landeskog finished with one hit, moving him past Cody McLeod (1,571) for the most in Avalanche/Nordiques franchise history.