The Colorado Avalanche signed a fifth straight win with a 5-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday afternoon.
The Avs end their 4-game road trip with a perfect record, while Detroit has now lost 8 of its last 10 games.
Nathan MacKinnon reached the 30-goal mark for the fifth time in his career, in addition to adding two assists. The player who has reached this milestone the most times in Avalanche history is Joe Sakic, on six occasions. MacKinnon has joined Milan Hejduk and is now ahead of Mikko Rantanen, the team’s top scorer this season with 46 goals, including one today.
The latter is therefore approaching the 50-goal mark, third in the league behind Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak, as well as 500 points, with a total of 491.
Lars Eller scored in a second straight game jumping on a shorthanded return, while Cale Makar added three assists to his tally. The young defenseman has nine points in four games this week.
Devon Toews opened the scoring after 5 minutes of a one-timer from the point that Ville Husso never saw slipping through traffic, and the Wings replied quickly thanks to Pius Suter on a good shot from the wrist.
MacKinnon, however, broke the tie in the second period and Bowen Byram widened the gap on the massive attack. Eller and Rantanen completed the scoring, then Alexandar Georgiev held the fort in front of the cage with 33 saves.
The Red Wings (30-29-9) have lost nine of their last 11 games, a streak that cuts their chances of making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Jets save themselves with victory in Nashville
Neal Pionk scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators.
The Jets were able to close two one-goal gaps to earn an important win over division rivals. Cody Glass opened the scoring in the first period with his 10th goal of the campaign.
After a scoreless second engagement, Nikolaj Ehlers tied the game with a hard shot. The Preds, however, were quick to regain the lead. 34 seconds later, Luke Evangelista completed a nice rally with Tommy Novak and Tyson Barrie to hit the target.
Adam Lowry, however, brought the two teams back to square one by jumping on a return throw from Josh Morrissey. The Jets defenseman picked up his second assist of the game on the streak.
Rick Bowness’s men did not last long in overtime. Neal Pionk just pushed the return of Pierre-Luc Dubois into the net to end the Jets’ short two-game losing streak. Dubois was back in action after missing nine of the Jets’ last 10 games.
Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves in the win. Juuse Saros was busier on the other end, but gave up after giving up three times to the Jets’ 34 shots.
Roman Josi was injured in the first half and did not return to finish the game.
Bruins ruin Wild streak
The Boston Bruins ended the Minnesota Wild’s record 14-game point streak with a 5-2 win.
David Pastrnak scored his 47th goal of the season, and the inexhaustible Patrice Bergeron his 25th. Brad Marchand contributed three assists, while Linus Ullmark stopped 29 of 31 shots he faced.
Pastrnak has 13 points (6-7) in his last eight outings.
The Wild were hopeful of improving their organizational record after taking the lead with a fine tic-tac-toe play that culminated in Marcus Johansson’s 15th goal of the campaign. They thought they were leading 2-0 for a while, but Matt Dumba’s goal was overturned due to Connor Dewar’s offside.
Jake DeBrusk tied the game before the end of the first period by taking Bergeron’s pass, then the Bruins took control in the second on a goal from David Pastrnak, on the power play. David Krejci then played luck when his shot deflected off Johansson’s stick before ending up in the back of the net.
The Bruins captain made it 4-2 with a good shot from the slot, as Trent Frederic rounded out the scoring.
Oskar Sundqvist was the Wild’s other scorer in the loss, which went to 33-save Filip Gustavsson.
With 14 games left, the Bruins (52-11-5 – 109 points) hope to surpass NHL records for most wins in a season (62) and number of points in the standings (132).
The Detroit Red Wings (1995-1996) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (2018-2019) share the mark for most wins in a season. The 1976-77 edition of the Montreal Canadiens (60-8-12) holds the record with 132 points, achieved in 80 games.
For their part, the Wild, who started the day one point behind the Dallas Stars and two ahead of the Colorado Avalanche at the top of the Central Division standings, had not lost in regulation since February 15 against the ‘Avalanche. The Wild were 11-0-3 in their previous 14 outings.
