The Colorado Avalanche opened its four-game series against the Minnesota Wild with a 5-1 victory at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.Logan O Connor and Mikko Rantanen both scored in the first four minutes of the first and second periods, respectively, and Joonas Donskoi tallied a power-play goal with 17 seconds remaining in the first period. Brandon Saad scored with 7:43 left in the third and J.T. Compher knocked in a man-advantage marker with less than six minutes to play.Saad also had an assist in the game for his third straight multi-point performance. Andre Burakovsky, Samuel Girard and Nathan MacKinnon both recorded multiple points with two helpers apiece, while Rantanen added an assist to goo along his goal.
“It just seems like we’re getting opportunities, guys are finding the back of the net, a little bit of confidence comes back,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I think we’re getting better production and better games out of our second, third and fourth line.”
Matt Dumba scored and Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 28 shots for Minnesota.
“They’re the class of the league,” Minnesota’s Zach Parise said. “They play a good style of hockey - they’re fast. The top line is arguably one of the best in the league, so it was a different type of game than we had played in the first eight.”
Saad has goal, assist as Avalanche top Wild
Brandon Saad had a goal and assist to lead a balanced scoring attack and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Saturday night.
The Canadian Press Colorado Avalanche celebrate , The Canadian Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. Brandon Saad had a goal and assist to lead a balanced scoring attack and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Saturday night.
Logan O’Connor, Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen and J.T. Compher also scored for Colorado, which has won three straight and four of five to take the West Division lead. Ten players had points, including two assists each for Samuel Girard, Andre Burakovsky and Nathan MacKinnon.
Colorado has won its last three outings by Andy Vernier / ColoradoAvalanche.com
The Colorado Avalanche faces off against the Minnesota Wild in the second game of a back-to-back set between the clubs on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center. The contest is also the second of a four-game series against the Wild.
Colorado moved to 6-3-0 on the year with a 5-1 victory over the Wild on Saturday. Logan O Connor opened the scoring for the Avs in his season debut, tallying his first goal of the campaign. Joonas Donskoi, Mikko Rantanen, Brandon Saad and J.T. Compher also found the back of the net, with Saad also adding a goal and an assist for his third straight multi-point effort. Netminder Philipp Grubauer earned his league leading sixth win of the season, stopping 19-of-20 shots.