Avalanche score 7, defeat Panthers for 3rd straight win

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche won their third straight game with a 7-4 victory against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Jonathan Drouin scored twice, and Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche (12-9-0), who have won six of seven. Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves, and Cale Makar and Devon Toews each had two assists.

“I liked a lot of our game,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We shut down the rush attack and that is important to get above them because they are a dangerous rush team. They push north hard. For most of the game, we did a real good job of that. Our defensive play led to good offense.’’

Sam Reinhart scored to extend his point streak to a career-high 13 games, and Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (12-8-1), who have lost five of their past six (1-5-0). Sergei Bobrovsky allowed six goals on 24 shots.

“In a game like that, there is not a single issue with your game, right? We are struggling right now,’’ Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “We have a structure we need to play and we’re not far off. But there are some execution challenges that we have.”

Carter Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead 52 seconds into the first period, scoring on a sharp-angled shot off the side wall off a pass from Lundell. It was his first goal in seven games.

Drouin tied it 1-1 at 9:13 on a deflection off a shot from Makar that bounced off Bobrovsky.

Aleksander Barkov put Florida back ahead 2-1 at 15:44, batting down a rebound of Matthew Tkachuk’s shot.

Colorado then scored four consecutive goals in the second period to take a 5-2 lead.

Drouin tied it 2-2 just 34 seconds into the second on a backhand off a pass from Makar.

“This is a very hard team to play against. They play well and their system is good,” said Drouin, who scored his first two goals of the season in his fifth game since returning from injury.

“I thought we played well after giving up that first goal. We tried to play a little how they do -- put the puck in deep, try to make them come 200 feet to our net. I don’t think we made many mistakes in that game if you look at the full 60 (minutes).”

Logan O'Connor gave Colorado a 3-2 lead at 4:04 when he broke free on a Florida line change and beat Bobrovsky with a shot off the crossbar.

Samuel Girard extended it to 4-2 at 8:54 on a shot that hit the skate of Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov in front of the net and trickled past Bobrovsky.

Rantanen made it 5-2 at 16:58 when Girard found him alone near the side of the net for a tap-in.

“We were a hard team to handle in a lot of different areas,” Bednar said. “Really good road win.”

Reinhart cut it to 5-3 at 18:40 with a power-play goal, deflecting a shot from Aaron Ekblad. Reinhart, who has 19 points (11 goals, eight assists) during his 13-game streak that ties a career long, also has the longest point streak in the NHL this season.

Ekblad appeared to score his first goal of the season at 4:17 of the third period to make it a one-goal game when Florida had a two-man advantage, but his goal was immediately waved off for goaltender interference on Tkachuk. Florida challenged the call, but it was upheld following video review.

“We just played into their game more than we played into ours,” Tkachuk said. “We’re not going to beat those guys at their game. It is just that simple.’’

Oliver Kylington pushed it to 6-3 at 15:49 on a wrist shot, and Nichushkin scored an empty-net goal at 17:15 to make it 7-3.

“I just want the team to win and be successful,” Kylington said. “Today, I chipped in with something offensively. I am happy.”

Lundell scored at 18:17 for the 7-4 final.

NOTES: Makar (eight goals, 22 assists; 30 points) and Rantanen (14 goals, 18 assists; 32 points) are the second and third Colorado players -- joining Nathan MacKinnon (seven goals, 28 assists; 35 points) -- with at least 30 points this season. It’s the second time in franchise history and first since the 1982-83 Quebec Nordiques that the team has at least three players with 30 points through the first 21 games of a season. … Makar (336 games) is the second-fastest defenseman in NHL history to record 100 multipoint games. He trails only Bobby Orr (307 games). … Reinhart’s 13-game point streak ties his personal high set last season and is tied for the second-longest in franchise history behind Mike Hoffman (17 games during the 2018-19 season).