Nazem Kadri’s pair of power play goals and Nathan MacKinnon’s milestone night powered a balanced Avalanche attack in a dominant 9–2 win over the Flames in Denver.
DENVER — Nazem Kadri scored two power-play goals 1:06 apart in the opening period, Nathan MacKinnon recorded his NHL-leading 49th goal along with two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche powered past the Calgary Flames 9–2 on Monday night.
Colorado showcased depth throughout the lineup, with Parker Kelly, Jack Drury, and Martin Necas each registering a goal and two assists. Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen added a goal and an assist apiece, while Gabriel Landeskog also scored for the Avalanche, who snapped a four-game home losing streak (0–3–1).
Defenseman Cale Makar contributed three assists before exiting late in the second period and did not return for the third due to an upper-body injury. Brock Nelson collected two assists, and Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves to secure the victory.
For Calgary, Brennan Othmann and Ryan Strome provided the offense. Devin Cooley stopped 28 shots in relief after replacing Dustin Wolf midway through the first period. The Flames had entered the matchup having won five of their previous six games.
First Period
Jack Drury opened the scoring by converting a rebound off the boards following an initial shot from Parker Kelly, giving Colorado a 1–0 lead.
Calgary quickly fell into penalty trouble when Brayden Pachal was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a scrum. Shortly after, Blake Coleman was called for slashing after breaking Necas’ stick, giving the Avalanche a 5-on-3 power play.
Kadri capitalized 23 seconds into the advantage to make it 2–0. With about a minute remaining on Coleman’s penalty, he buried a rebound off a Nelson one-timer to extend the lead to 3–0—his second goal of the night, both on the power play.
Just 1:42 later, Landeskog slipped a shot through the five-hole to push the lead to 4–0, prompting Flames head coach Ryan Huska to pull his starting goaltender in favor of Cooley.
Colorado’s surge continued late in the period. With 5:10 remaining, Kelly tipped a Makar point shot through Cooley’s five-hole to complete a five-goal opening frame.
After 20 minutes, the Avalanche led 5–0 and dominated in all facets, including a 26–8 advantage in shots on goal. The fourth line played a significant role, accounting for two of the five goals and underscoring Colorado’s depth.
Second Period
Calgary got on the board at 3:37 when Othmann beat Wedgewood to cut the deficit to 5–1. The goal followed a turnover by Malinski, with John Beecher working the puck around the net before finding Othmann in the slot.
Brett Kulak was later penalized for high-sticking Yegor Sharangovich, but Colorado killed off the ensuing power play.
Late in the period, Zach Whitecloud was called for tripping Landeskog, sending the Avalanche back to the man advantage. MacKinnon made the Flames pay, blasting home his 49th goal on a one-timer set up by Makar to extend the lead to 6–1—Colorado’s third power-play goal of the night.
After two periods, Colorado held a commanding 6–1 lead and a 33–16 edge in shots.
Third Period
Makar did not appear on the bench to start the third period after sustaining an upper-body injury late in the second and would not return, despite his three-point performance through two frames.
Even without him, Colorado kept pressing. Necas one-timed a shot from the right circle off a feed from MacKinnon behind the net to make it 7–1 at 6:24.
Less than two minutes later, Kelly set up Malinski on a zone entry, and he finished with a forehand-backhand move to extend the lead to 8–1.
Strome responded for Calgary to make it 8–2, but Lehkonen closed out the scoring as the Avalanche secured a decisive 9–2 victory.
