Mikko Rantanen had a goal and four assists, and Cale Makar had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche (31-14-3), who hadn't played since a 7-4 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves.
“It was a tough start, honestly. It's hard to have that many days off to be honest,” MacKinnon said. “The game is so fast out there, and to get acclimated took us 10 minutes, but then we played well, I thought, the last 50. Power play was good. Got some good looks tonight.”
Dylan Strome scored twice, and Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves for the Capitals (22-18-6), who were coming off a 5-3 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
“Obviously, the difference in the game is three of the best players on the planet,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. "I liked a lot of the things that we did tonight to be honest with you. I know the scoreboard will not reflect that whatsoever, but I liked a lot of the things that we did from an energy standpoint, structure standpoint, offensive zone, even some entry stuff, which has been a struggle for us.”
Makar gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 19:23 of the first period. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated into the high slot, and beat Lindgren glove side with a wrist shot.
“A little bit of a slow start, but to be able to get that one near the end, I think it gave us a little bit of an extra boost,” Makar said. “It was a big one, but obviously guys just found a way to fill the net after that.”