MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead at 7:52. He skated by Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher and scored from low in the left face-off circle with a wrist shot that went under Markstrom's right arm short side.
"He's really fast and he's shifty too," Markstrom said. "He's probably the one who puck-handles the most from backhand to forehand. Most guys can skate really fast and push the puck forward, but he can stick-handle at full speed. He was shooting high all night and then the low shot kind of beat me. It surprised me. I was a little off angle. It's unfortunate when it's a tight game."
Vancouver's Jake Virtanen shot off the right post moments before MacKinnon's goal.
"It would have been nice," Virtanen said. "We definitely have to bury those on the breakaway. It's tough to see them go back down the other way and score."
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal from Rantanen with 24 seconds left in the first period. MacKinnon passed cross-ice to Rantanen for a one-timer from the right circle that beat Markstrom glove side.
"It wasn't hard to tell early in the game that MacKinnon was going to be flying and I thought Mikko had a real strong game too," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "As a line, those guys created a lot of chances. They had one called back, hit a post or two, scored a couple goals. Really good night. It's exactly what we needed from those guys."
