EditorsNote: Corrects spelling of ‘Kubalik’ in last graf
Joonas Donskoi and Nazem Kadri had two goals apiece, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists in his first game in more than a month, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 in Denver on Saturday night.
Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two assists, Tyson Jost also scored and Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots for the Avalanche, who swept the back-to-back set against Chicago. Colorado won 5-2 in Chicago on Friday night.
Patrick Kane, Brandon Saad and Dominik Kubalik had goals, and Corey Crawford finished with 13 saves in relief of Robin Lehner for the Blackhawks, who played without defenseman Duncan Keith due to a groin injury.
Rantanen missed 16 games with a lower-body injury sustained at St. Louis on Oct. 21. He sat out the third period Saturday for what is believed to be precautionary reasons.
Saad scored a short-handed goal at 1:37 to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, but the Avalanche responded later in the period.
Kadri tied it on a power play when Rantanen fed him in front, as he put it past Lehner on the far side at 7:53. Kadri got his second of the game and 10th of the season 85 seconds later when he used a J.T. Compher screen to make it 2-1.
MacKinnon finished the trio of first-period goals when he scored his team-leading 17th on a feed from Rantanen at 11:08.
Chicago had a chance to get at least one back with 58 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play late in the first, but Grubauer made a few big saves.
The Blackhawks still had 2:37 of a power play as part of a double-minor to start the second, but managed just one shot on goal, and 17 seconds after the penalty was over, Donskoi scored on a rush the other way.
Rantanen made it 5-1 at 5:50 of the second, slamming home a rebound of a Samuel Girard shot. That ended Lehner's night, having allowed five goals on 14 shots.
Colorado got two quick goals on Crawford, the first on Donksoi's 11th of the season and Jost's fifth 2:10 later that made it 7-1.
Kubalik answered with his sixth of the season 36 seconds after Jost scored. Kane's 14th in the third, on a power play, extended his points streak to 15 games.
--Field Level Media
