MacKinnon has 3 points, Avalanche rally past Kraken for 3rd straight win

SEATTLE -- Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche rallied for their third straight win, 5-3 against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Cale Makar and Martin Necas each had two assists, and Artturi Lehkonen, Samuel Girard and Brock Nelson scored for the Avalanche (24-2-7), who extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves.

“[Momentum shifted] in the second,” Blackwood said. “We had a lot of possession in the latter half of the second, and then I thought we did a good job in the third, taking back the game.”

Chandler Stephenson, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored for the Kraken (12-13-6), who have lost their last three and nine of their last 10 (1-8-1). Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves.

“I thought we played hard, like we have been,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get it over the finish line.”

MacKinnon tied it 3-3 at 2:40 of the third period, one-timing Makar’s feed from the left circle that went in off defenseman Adam Larsson and past Grubauer’s glove.

The Kraken were awarded a penalty shot at 7:49 of the third period when Colorado defenseman Josh Manson covered the puck in the crease, but Eberle hit the right post on the attempt.

“For the most part, we played a better game. We were with them,” Eberle said. “It comes down to I missed a penalty shot to possibly take the lead, and they scored on the power play right after. That’s the difference right there.”

Nelson gave Colorado a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal at 8:25 after MacKinnon’s shot from the left circle bounced off the end wall to Nelson at the right post. Nelson slapped it into an open net before Grubauer could dive across.

“I think they deserved that [power-play goal],” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I think a couple of the earlier power plays, we had some really good looks, and they made some big saves, got a couple blocks.”

MacKinnon added an empty-net goal at 19:36 for the 5-3 final.

The forward has 12 points (six goals, six assists) on a six-game point streak; he leads the NHL with 28 goals and 58 points.

“I mean, he’s just a dominant player,” Manson said of MacKinnon. “He creates chances all the time on the ice but makes the guys around him better. And I feel like he’s got that kind of shot mentality this year, like just throwing everything to the net, and it’s working for him.”

Lehkonen made it 1-0 at 12:19 of the first period after Necas walked across the blue line to the middle, then snapped a shot that glanced off Lehkonen’s leg and over Grubauer’s glove.

“We were close in the first period, but it just seemed like they had an added step on us,” Bednar said. “And I think part of that was just the intensity that they were playing with early, and I didn't mind us, but we gave up too much, and we weren't getting enough. … And as the game went on, I thought we got there, and then, good things started to happen for us.”

Wright tied it 1-1 at 3:03 of the second period. His snap shot from the left circle hit Jani Nyman at the top of the crease. Nyman chipped it off the left post, and Wright crashed and swatted the loose puck off the post and in.

“I thought they played well,” Lambert said of Wright’s line with Nyman and Kaapo Kakko.

Eberle gave Seatte a 2-1 lead at 5:48 after Blackwood sprawled to stop Larsson’s one-timer at the right post, but Eberle found the rebound at the top of the crease and pushed it into an open net.

“For us right now, it’s just every game … one play here, one play there, they capitalize, and it’s going the wrong way for us right now,” Eberle said.

Girard tied it 2-2 at 13:29, when Valeri Nichushkin teed it up for him at the top of the right circle, and he one-timed it past Grubauer’s blocker.

Stephenson regained a 3-2 lead for Seattle with a power-play goal at 19:24 when his attempted seam pass to Matty Beniers from the right circle hit defenseman Brent Burns’ skate and skipped through Blackwood’s five-hole.

“They’re aggressive [on the PK]. You’ve got to move the puck quick,” Eberle said. “I mean, I think they’re No. 1 in the League, so they just … they’re connected, they pressure, and they pressure, and they pressure. You’ve got to just move it quick. I mean, we were able to find one [power-play goal], but we obviously got a chance on the penalty shot too.”

NOTES: Seattle defenseman Brandon Montour (undisclosed) left the game a minute into the third period. Lambert did not have an update on his status after the game. … It was Colorado’s first third-period comeback win of the season.