Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals and had two assists, and Adam Werner made 40 saves for a shutout in his first NHL game as the Colorado Avalanche beat the host Winnipeg Jets 4-0 on Tuesday.
MacKinnon scored twice in the third period and assisted on goals from Cale Makar and Joonas Donskoi. It was the seventh multi-point game of the season for MacKinnon, who has three goals and five assists over his past three games.
Donskoi had two assists and a power-play goal, giving the forward his second three-point performance in his past three games. Donskoi collected a hat trick in Colorado's 9-4 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Matt Calvert had two assists, setting up both of MacKinnon's goals.
The Avalanche extended their winning streak to three games, and they have won their past four games meetings with the Jets dating back to last season.
Winnipeg took its first regulation loss in six games (4-1-1).
Playing in relief after an early injury to starting goalie Pavel Francouz, Werner made his unexpected debut a perfect one as the Avalanche recorded their first team shutout of the season.
Werner, a fifth-round pick for the Avalanche in the 2016 NHL draft, has a 5-4-0 record, a .908 save percentage and 2.88 goals-against average for the AHL's Colorado Eagles this season. He was called up to the Avalanche's roster for additional depth behind Francouz, as regular starting goalie Philipp Grubauer (lower-body injury) has missed three consecutive games.
Just 31 seconds into the game, Jets forward Mark Scheifele was charging toward the net when a push from Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard sent Scheifele into Francouz. The collision left Francouz motionless on the ice for several seconds, and the goaltender was removed from the game. Francouz did not face a shot before exiting.
The Jets took their first shutout loss of the season despite outshooting the Avalanche by a 40-25 margin.
Makar gave Colorado the lead at 19:01 of the first period. The rookie now has four goals in his past three games and 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in the Avalanche's first 18 games.
--Field Level Media
