Necas has 3 points, Avalanche blank Kings to keep pace in Central

DENVER -- Martin Necas scored twice and had an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on Thursday.

The shutout was Blackwood’s fourth of the season and 14th in the NHL.

“He's made big saves; he's keeping us in games,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “He's given us a chance to win. He's really competitive and feels like he should stop everything, which I love that mindset in a goalie. Tonight, when we needed him he was there, and he gets rewarded with the shutout.”

Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his home point streak to 23 games, and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (45-25-3), who have won 11 straight at home and four overall, and are 12-1-1 in their past 14 games. Cale Makar had two assists.

MacKinnon’s 23-game home point streak (15 goals, 25 assists) broke a tie with Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets (22 games) for the longest in the NHL this season.

Colorado remained five points behind the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division. Dallas, which has a game in hand, defeated the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Thursday.

“I would say, start to finish, it's our best one in a while,” Bednar said. “[They’ve] been the best team in the League the last month for a reason. So I guess whenever you can come out and play a solid game like that and sort of keep them at bay, it's hard to say, but it could be a night where they don't have their legs. But again, we still have to do our job and we did it. So I'm pretty happy with our guys and our effort.”

David Rittich made 22 saves for the Kings (40-22-9), who had won four in a row and nine of their past 10. Drew Doughty played in his 1,200th NHL game.

Los Angeles remained two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand. Edmonton lost 6-1 at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

“We didn't have our best stuff, there's no question,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We didn't connect on much. I just didn't think we were very good. We didn't give them a lot, but we just didn't create much ourselves. Just weren't sharp.”

Logan O'Connor gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 5:25 of the second period when he chipped in a loose puck at the top of the crease. Makar was driving the net when Joel Edmundson knocked the puck off his stick and to the middle of the ice.

“Did I assist on that one? Oh, thank God. I get to give him that one,” Makar joked. “Obviously, he's one of my great friends on the team, like everybody, but he's a special guy because he works so hard day in, day out. So to see a guy get rewarded on nights like this, it's good.”

Said O’Connor: “I'm very fortunate to be best buddies with Cale, especially being from Calgary, that connection as well. Anytime you're on the ice with him, good things are going to happen if you put the puck in his hands.”

Necas extended it to 2-0 at 6:57. Samuel Girard sent the puck off the end boards, and Necas retrieved it behind the net and quickly backhanded it past the leg of Rittich.

“Just a great job by him getting it to the net, and [Artturi Lehkonen] screened, so the goalie didn't see it,” said Necas. “I just had an easy job right there.”

Necas scored again to make it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 15:29. He one-timed Makar’s pass from the right dot through MacKinnon’s moving screen in front.

“We knew it's going to be a big game,” Necas said. “They've been whatever, 9-1 in the last 10. So a big, big challenge, and we did it really right. We have four lines that can roll, and special teams [have] been good. Goalie's played great. We're a hard team to play against when we play this way, and that's what we've been showing.”

Drouin pushed it to 4-0 on the power play at 4:56 of the third period, one-timing MacKinnon’s crossing pass from the right dot glove side.

NOTES: In his past 100 home games dating back to January 10, 2023, MacKinnon has been held off the score sheet only eight times and has recorded nearly two points per game over that span (186 points; 70 goals, 116 assists). … Colorado’s 11-game home winning streak is the second-longest run in franchise history behind an 18-game stretch in 2021-22. … Doughty became the 39th defenseman in League history and the fifth active defenseman to reach the 1,200-game mark, joining Ryan Suter (1,518 games), Brent Burns (1,486), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (1,313) and Jack Johnson (1,225). … Necas recorded his 200th NHL assist with a secondary assist on Drouin’s goal.