*Photo from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle*
The defending champions are staying hot at the ideal time. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Cale Makar had two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-1 victory on Monday night in Anaheim.
Colorado has been in the middle of a hot streak for an extended period now. They've won 3 straight, are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, and have won 6 in a row on the road. Bowen Byram also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who trail the Dallas Stars by one point for first place in the Central Division.
Ducks forward Ryan Strome said of the Avalanche that "You see the way their defense activates, how confident they are out there and how they skate and forecheck. There are a lot of great lessons we can learn from these teams. That's what I take from it, hopefully other guys do too."
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at the 12:08 mark of the first period, with Derek Grant scoring his 5th goal of the season, assisted by Jakob Silfverberg. Byram then tied the game for the Avalanche with an unassisted goal. With just 8 seconds left in the first, MacKinnon scored to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Jack Johnson scored 2:05 into the second period for the Avalanche, giving them a 3-1 lead on his first goal of the season. MacKinnon and Makar then assisted on Valeri Nichushkin's 16th goal of the season, increasing the lead to 4-1. On the power play in the 3rd period, Sam Girard scored to make the Avalanche lead 5-1, which went final.
Asked about his first period goal after the game, Byram said that "I've just been trying to shoot the puck. Our forwards battle in front of the net to try and get screens, so I just shoot it, get it there for them, and a couple have gone in for me, so I'm happy about that."
Getting the start for the Avalanche in net was Jonas Johansson, who improved to 2-0-0 in as many starts this season. Johansson stopped all but one of the 31 shots he saw from the Ducks, recording a stellar .967 save percentage.
It was John Gibson who got the start for the Ducks, who once again did not have a good game. Gibson turned aside 39 out of the 44 shots on goal that the Avalanche had, which was good for a .886 save percentage. Gibson's record is now 14-29-8 in 51 games.
When asked about the loss, Anaheim's 5th in a row, Strome said that "It's obviously a tough time of year for us. With things winding down and knowing our place in the standings, these are hard games, but I think playing against these good teams teaches us a lot of good lessons."
Up next, the Avalanche welcome the Minnesota Wild to town on Wednesday, with Alexandar Georgiev expected to start. The Ducks wait an extra day, taking on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night, with Gibson lined up to start.
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