MacKinnon nets three points in 5-2 win over Wild, Avalanche lead series 2-0

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and assisted on two more as the Colorado Avalanche rolled through Minnesota’s newest netminder, Filip Gustavsson, on their way to a 5-2 win over the Wild on Tuesday night, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the second-round playoff series.

The Avalanche have now won six straight post-season games, which ties the 2021 squad for the franchise’s longest win streak to begin the playoffs.

This game featured a little more defence than the 9-6 eruption in Game 1. The 14 goals for the Avalanche are the most in the first two games of a playoff series since the Calgary Flames had 15 against the Los Angeles Kings in 1988.

Martin Necas, Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy all scored their first goals of the series. Valeri Nichushkin added an empty-netter in the closing seconds. Twelve different Avalanche players have scored in the series, an NHL record for the first two games of a series.

Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves on a night where he drew contact — he was knocked into the net on one occasion — and took a puck off the mask, leading to some quick repairs.

The Wild went with Gustavsson in net after Jesper Wallstedt gave up eight goals in the 9-6 loss. Gustavsson got off to a rocky start by giving up goals on the opening two shots of the first period and the first shot of the second. He settled down and finished with 18 saves.

The series shifts to Minnesota for Game 3 on Saturday.

The Avalanche are 18-2 in best-of-seven playoff series when winning the first two games since moving to Denver in 1995-96.

Kirill Kaprizov and Marcus Johansson had goals for the Wild. Tempers flared in the third, with Parker Kelly getting into a scuffle with Matt Boldy and hitting the linesman with his glove. No penalties were called.

Colorado weathered a late rush by the Wild after they pulled Gustavsson for an extra skater. Boldy took a big hit from MacKinnon along the boards and was slow to get up.

Necas gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead in the first period but just six seconds later Kaprizov tied it. The six-second gap between the goals was tied for the fifth-fastest two goals by both teams in post-season history, according to NHL Stats.

Landeskog later added a power-play goal on a pass from MacKinnon, who notched two assists in the first period for his 21st career multi-point playoff period. He passed Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for the most in franchise history.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Pat Graham, The Associated Press