Minus Nathan MacKinnon, the Avalanche rally to down the Calgary Flames 2-1 – The Denver Post

CALGARY, Alberta — The Avalanche on Tuesday began what could be an extended injury absence to first-line center Nathan MacKinnon, and it went as well as the NHL-leading club could have hoped at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Colorado used two power-play goals from winger Valeri Nichushkin and 44 saves from goalie Darcy Kuemper to defeat the Calgary Flames — the Western Conference’s second-best team — 2-1 to become the first team in the league to reach 100 points.

Colorado (47-14-6), which is also still without four other injured players, finished 2-0-1 in the regular-season series against Calgary (40-18-8). The Avs, who have 15 remaining regular-season games, extended their conference lead over the Flames by a whopping 12 points.

“Gutsy win by our group,” said Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team successfully killed off the final two penalties of the game. “I thought our team was highly committed on the defensive side of things and the power play steps up in the end, gets us a big win.”

MacKinnon returned to Denver on Tuesday with what the team is calling an upper-body injury. It is believed to be to his right hand, stemming from his fight in Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss at Minnesota in which MacKinnon had an ice pack on his right hand in the third period.

Bednar hinted that the injury was caused by MacKinnon’s fight with Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, who absorbed punches to his face and helmet.

The 100 points mean a lot to Bednar, who reached it for the first time in six seasons with the club. His teams last season and in 2019-20 could have reached 100 if they weren’t shortened, but it marks Colorado’s first 100-point campaign since 2013-14.

“I’m proud of our group to this point in the season. Heightened sense of urgency, commitment, purpose, buy-in from our group, I think it says everything,” Bednar said. “We’re there for a reason and you got to give the guys credit — the maturity and growth of our team over the last couple of years.”

Nichushkin tapped in his second goal off a feed from Mikko Rantanen at 10:52 of the third period as Colorado rallied from a 1-0 deficit.

Kuemper’s 44 saves were his second-most of the season, trailing only his 46-save shutout against the Flames in a 3-0 victory on March 13. Thus, he’s stopped 90-of-91 shots in consecutive games against Calgary.

“Credit to the depth of the team, the willingness and ability to step up their game and make up for the guys that are missing and changing our approach to the game — obviously really focusing on the defensive side of things with some big offensive weapons missing,” Kuemper said.

It remained 0-0 after one period and both teams struck on the power play in the second for a 1-1 tie heading into the third.

The Avs tied it with a power-play goal from Nichushkin, who stood in front of the crease and had Cale Makar’s wrist shot carom off him and behind goalie Jacob Markstrom at 13:46. The Flames’ Milan Lucic was in the penalty box for interference.

Calgary opened the scoring at 9:31 after Makar and Nichushkin were penalized for slashing and hooking with 18 seconds. Flames forward Tyler Toffoli used a one-time slap shot to beat Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper on the two-man advantage.

Finnish forward Artturi Lehkonen made his debut with the Avs, following a week-long issue with immigration. The trade-deadline addition from the Montreal Canadiens joined the club here on Monday and skated on a line with Alex Newhook and Andre Burakovsky at even strength and also contributed on the penalty kill.

“It was kind of weird. You didn’t know when the papers are going to go through, but luckily I got it done now,” Lehkonen said. “Little rusty. New stuff. New players around you. Was a little rusty.”

Footnotes. Avalanche rookie defenseman Bo Byram is on the trip with the Avs and was a full participant in Tuesday’s morning skate. However, he technically remains on personal leave, according to the team, and there is no timeline for his possible return. Byram, who has been shut down three times this season because of concussion-like symptoms, hasn’t played since Jan. 10. … Defenseman Sam Girard was scheduled to resume skating on Tuesday in the Denver area in his month-long recovery from a back injury. Left wing and team captain Gabe Landeskog has not yet begun skating after undergoing knee surgery. Defenseman Ryan Murray remains out indefinitely with a hand/arm injury from blocking a shot.

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