MacKinnon has 4 points, Avalanche cruise past Kraken 

SEATTLE — Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and Devon Toews had two assists for the Avalanche (44-11-9), who have won six of their past seven. Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves.

“I’ve been working on just, kind of getting a little bit taller, seeing pucks, finding holes, putting a lot more effort behind just a shot, and it's been paying off for me,” Wedgewood said. “And then, obviously we pop [three goals] in the first and make it hard for them to come back. And the way we've been playing, it's going to make teams’ jobs really difficult to do that.”

Ryker Evans scored for the Kraken (29-26-9), who have lost four straight games. Joey Daccord allowed three goals on 15 shots in the first period before being replaced by Philipp Grubauer to start the second. Grubauer made nine saves in relief.

“We dipped our toe in the water [in the first period] to see what it was going to be all about,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “I just can’t explain it. It’s unacceptable. We played well in the second and third period, but you can’t spot that team that many goals. And, I mean, we’ve got to wake up.” 

Necas made it 1-0 at 3:45 of the first period. MacKinnon's pass through the seam touched Toews’ stick in the slot and slipped through to Necas, who chipped the puck over a sprawling Daccord.

“It just seemed like every time [MacKinnon] got the puck, he knew where it was going, and he knew where the open man was, and a lot of times that was Marty with speed,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They had good chemistry tonight.”

MacKinnon pushed it to 2-0 at 12:54 when his cross-crease pass intended for Nazem Kadri went in off the skate of Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson.

“Those [first two] are pretty nice plays from some talented guys,” Bednar said. “They were seeing some things that they liked, and the execution was really good. There's a lot of hard work that goes into those shifts before those goals, but I think they get a good start like that, and they're seeing things and picking it apart a little bit.”

Nicolas Roy extended the lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 18:48 after Brock Nelson partially fanned on a shot in the slot. Roy collected the puck at the top of the crease and chipped it into an open net after Daccord moved up in the crease to stop Nelson’s shot.

“We kind of hang Joey out to dry a couple times, and I take a bad penalty, and they get one there,” Seattle captain Jordan Eberle said. “Especially against a team like that, if you’re not dialed into your details and your protocols, I mean, they’re going to take advantage of you.” 

Evans got Seattle to within 3-1 with a short-handed goal at 13:36 of the second period. He drove down the slot, took a Chandler Stephenson feed from the right circle, and snapped it over Wedgewood’s glove.

Kadri responded with a tip in the slot off Sam Malinski’s one-timer from the right point to make it 4-1 at 17:11. It was Kadri’s first goal with the Avalanche since he was acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames before the NHL Trade Deadline last Friday.

“It's obviously the game within the game to send it into the intermission with them now down another one,” Wedgewood said. “It’s obviously a tougher obstacle to surpass, and nice for Kadri to get his first back with us.”

Joel Kiviranta scored at 12:41 of the third period, tipping Josh Manson’s one-timer from the point off defenseman Jamie Oleksiak’s back and over Grubauer’s blocker for the 5-1 final.

NOTES: Colorado defenseman Brent Burns played his 989th consecutive game, tying Keith Yandle for second on the all-time list, behind only Phil Kessel (1,064). … The Kraken entered the game holding the second wild card spot from the Western Conference but fell out of the position with the loss and the San Jose Sharks’ 4-2 win at the Boston Bruins. Seattle is now one point behind San Jose. … Necas became Colorado’s third 30-goal scorer of the season, along with MacKinnon and Nelson, the most in the League. … Defenseman Nick Blankenburg had 9:31 of ice time in his first game for Colorado since being acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on March 4.