Nathan MacKinnon recorded four points to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Ball Arena on Saturday. Colorado used a five-goal second period to overcome an early two-goal deficit.
Jack Drury opened the scoring for Carolina at 9:02 of the first period with a snap shot assisted by Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal. Martinook extended the lead to 2-0 early in the second period with a wrist shot. Colorado responded shorthanded when Cale Makar beat Spencer Martin unassisted on a slap shot at 9:13. Less than two minutes later, Sam Malinski tallied his first goal of the season on a backhand shot setup by MacKinnon and Samuel Girard to level the score at 2-2.
Carolina regained the lead on the power play at 12:26 of the second period when Martin Necas beat Alexandar Georgiev with a snap shot. Colorado answered with three unanswered goals before the intermission. MacKinnon tied the game at 15:49, Artturi Lehkonen scored 53 seconds later on a tip-in to give Colorado its first lead, and Mikko Rantanen added a power-play goal at 18:49. Martinook pulled Carolina within one at 2:50 of the third period, but Rantanen secured the win with an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining.
Georgiev made 27 saves on 31 shots to earn the victory for Colorado. Martin took the loss for Carolina after allowing five goals on 28 shots faced. The Avalanche finished 1-for-5 on the power play while also scoring shorthanded, and the Hurricanes converted on 1 of their 4 power-play chances.
The win brought the Avalanche to a 7-8-0 regular-season record. Carolina dropped to 10-3-0 on the season, ending a five-game winning streak. MacKinnon finished the night with a goal and three assists, while Rantanen recorded two goals and an assist for Colorado. Martinook paced the Hurricanes with two goals and an assist.
