ST. PAUL, Minn. — Nathan MacKinnon and Valery Nichushkin each had a goal and two assists and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-3 at Xcel Energy Center on Monday.
MacKinnon has three straight multipoint games (two goals, five assists).
Samuel Girard had one goal and one assist for the Avalanche (2-1-0). Alexander Georgiev made 36 saves.
“I thought [Georgiev] was really good again,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “You look at the goals he’s given up so far this season, it’s all power play and one with a delayed penalty with the goalie pulled. Five-on-5, he’s been strong. It seems like he’s reading where the chances are coming from. He’s been early getting over into position and making some nice saves. I thought both goalies played really well at the end of the game. There were a couple flurries at both ends, but ‘Georgie’ made the big four saves on that one scrum which kind of kept us with our lead.”
Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, and Calen Addison had three assists for Minnesota (0-3-0), which has not had a lead this season. Filip Gustavsson made 32 saves.
The Wild have allowed at least six goals in all three games and have been outscored 20-12.
“Goals against is a concern,” coach Dean Evason said. “It’s not on the goalie. It’s on the goalie, it’s on the defense, it’s on the forwards, it’s on the coaches. It’s on all of us. We’re giving up way too many goals. … We’ll all be accountable , and we’ll get rid of this together.”
Video: COL@MIN: Rantanen backhands a loose puck into the net
All three of Minnesota’s goals were scored on the power play.
Ben Meyers gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:30 of the first period. Erik Johnson shot through traffic, and Meyers deflected the puck high and into the back of the net.
Kaprizov tied it 1-1 at 4:14 after a feed from Addison and Gustavsson off for the extra attacker on a delayed penalty.
Girard beat Tyson Jost for a loose puck in the offensive zone to give Colorado a 2-1 lead at 15:08 with a backhander in the slot.
Joel Eriksson Ek tipped in Addison’s slap shot from the point on a power play to tie it 2-2 at 6:09 of the second period.
“I think it’s about creating those chances to score,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think for us, coming out and really pushing the pace is going to help us get those goals.”
Mikko Rantanen finished a loose puck in the crease to put the Avalanche ahead 3-2 at 11:59. MacKinnon dumped the puck into the Wild zone during 4-on-4 play, and Gustavsson was unable to cover it up.
“[MacKinnon’s] playing his game,” the Colorado forward said JT Compher said. “Playing fast, and heavy, and smart and making nice plays and getting rewarded for it. Whether he gets points or not, he’s driving the bus and we try to feed off that.”
Josh Manson skated in and backhanded a shot off the Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski‘s skate to increase the lead to 4-2 at 2:02 of the third period.
Kaprizov scored on the power play at 4:17 with a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 4-3.
Video: COL@MIN: Kaprizov gets a bounce for a power-play goal
MacKinnon made it 5-3 at 14:54 with a deflection, and Nichuskin scored an empty-net goal at 19:39 for the 6-3 final.
“It’s tough. We’re in a funk right now,” Addison said. “There’s a lot of bounces we’re not getting both ways. I think we played well. We’re taking a step in the right direction. We’re obviously showing how well we can work teams down low and create offense in their zone. and things like that. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and we’re going to get out of it.”
NOTES: It was Gustavsson’s first start with Minnesota; he made 17 saves in relief in a 7-6 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. … Wild forward Mats Zuccarello had an assist in 21:14 of ice time; He was questionable after leaving the morning skate early. … Minnesota forward Marco Rossi, the No. 9 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, was a healthy scratch. … Wild forward Matt Boldy had an assist and has 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 50 NHL games. Among active United States-born players, only two had more points through 50 games: Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks (26 goals, 19 assists) and Patrick Kane (12 goals, 33 assists) of the Chicago Blackhawks. … MacKinnon became the sixth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history with three or more consecutive multipoint games from the start of a season, and the first since Valeri Kamensky in 1995-96. … Nichushkin has scored in each of Colorado’s first three games, equaling his career-best goal streak set from Nov. 19-24, 2021. His four goals lead the Avalanche.
.