Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche keep white-hot start rolling with home win against Canucks

An early deficit and an unplanned goaltending change wasn t nearly enough to slow down the Colorado Avalanche The Avs continued to mash their way through the early part of the schedule with a - achievement Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to continue his historic start to this season Gabe Landeskog had a pair of assists and the Avs are now - - five points ahead of the Dallas Stars and clear of the rest of the NHL Colorado now has at least a point in straight games - - which is the second-longest run in franchise history The Avs pushed their NHL-best goal differential to plus- and continue to pace the league in both goals scored and fewest goals allowed That this club is an offensive juggernaut is not much of a surprise The defensive dominance might be the the greater part impressive part of the machine at this point I m happy with what I ve seen for sure Landeskog stated I think that s one of the keys to our battle that commitment to defending That s where our offense starts That buy-in from everyone has been awesome from the get-go This contest was not without specific adversity Starting goaltender Scott Wedgewood left with left in the second period with what the gang called an upper-body injury and did not return Mackenzie Blackwood made saves and collected the win because the match was tied when he entered Avs coach Jared Bednar explained Wedgewood s back tightened up so they decided to take him out Wedgewood is expected to progress with the band for a forthcoming four-game road trip but Bednar reported he wasn t sure if a third goalie would go as well Better safe than sorry Bednar mentioned We ll just see his injury develops over the next couple days and take it from there Nothing too serious at this point Vancouver grabbed an early when Linus Karlsson got behind the Avs and was able to deke his way to slick goal just into the opening period The Canucks didn t create very multiple dangerous chances after that through the next two periods MacKinnon scored his first of the night with seconds left in the opening period Devon Toews snuck down in the slot and tipped Sam Malinski s shot from the right point That was just enough to prevent Kevin Lankinen from handling it cleanly and MacKinnon was there in the left circle to pounce on the rebound Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin right pursues the puck with Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tom Willander and center Max Sasson left in the first period of an NHL hockey championship Tuesday Dec in Denver AP Photo David Zalubowski Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup after missing eight games but not to his customary place on the second line Nichushkin slotted in on the third line though he did play a part in MacKinnon s first goal The trio of Landeskog Brock Nelson and Ross Colton had a strong night and produced Colorado s go-ahead goal at of the second period I thought they were great again Bednar mentioned That s why I didn t put Val on it because they ve been really good here in the latest past The production is coming They are dangerous every night They seem to have particular good chemistry If they keep playing like that it will stay like that Landeskog fed Brock Nelson who had slipped behind Vancouver center Max Sasson cutting to the net for his ninth goal of the season Nelson now has six goals and points in his past games Landeskog also has points five goals in the past games after he began this comeback campaign with no goals and four assists in the first contests To be wholly honest I think it was just a matter of time Landeskog mentioned That was at least the way I felt and I m sure Brock felt the same way Just continue to put yourselves in good spot and continue to do things right and focus on the little things Those are boring answers but I think that s the only way to do it It s the only way to break out of things like that MacKinnon struck again in the final minute of the second He replaced Nelson during a prolonged line change and Landeskog fed him in the right circle for a one-timer with seconds remaining in the period Related Articles Another sign of this Colorado Avalanche company s dominance It kept rolling without Valeri Nichushkin Shots on goal are harder to come by in the NHL these days but not for the Colorado Avalanche Brock Nelson Gabe Landeskog lead Avalanche rout of Canadiens in - win Avalanche s Nathan MacKinnon Brent Burns share passion for training off-ice work I ve already learned a lot from him Renck File Rockies Paul DePodesta keeping Warren Schaeffer looks bad But here s why it makes sense That is goals this season in games for MacKinnon the second-most in franchise history and easily the bulk since the club moved to Denver His points are also the second-most in franchise history and the greater part since the club came to the base of the Front Range Colorado has now outscored its opponents - at -on- when MacKinnon is on the ice an outrageous margin that helps define just how dominant the league MVP and this Avalanche association has been This Avs group has points in games That s tied for the second-most in league history behind only the - Sharks who had I think we made particular mistakes early in the encounter and they were jumping Bednar revealed We gave up three breakaways partial breakaways so not really good enough Then we started to come around and I liked the rest of our night I thought it was pretty good Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis