O’Connor gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 2:23 of the second period. After Kevin Shattenkirk and Pavel Zacha collided in his own zone, he stole the puck, turned and beat Swayman with his stick hand, glove side on a breakaway.
“We were lucky that they kind of met at the same time,” O’Connor said. “Then the puck came flying at me and I tried to take it off the tape right away. It was definitely a hard-fought game, but it’s great that we were able to get two points against this tough schedule. ”
Beecher tied the score at 2-2 at 10:05 with a rebound of Danton Heinen’s wraparound shot.
Malinski gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with a wrist shot from the blue line at 17:56. He was recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League on Monday morning.
“It always feels good when you can contribute to a big win,” Malinsky said. “I think it’s going to be a little bit more special considering it’s my first match back.” “I was just trying to get the puck into the net. That player was in my lane, so I had to stutter a little bit there and I pushed the forehand back and it was like, “I just tried to get the puck into the net.” Luckily it went in.”
Marchand crashed into the far side of the goal at 5:46 of the third period, redirecting Charlie Coyle’s cross-zone pass to tie the score at 3-3.
“The whole line did a great job controlling the puck in the O-zone and just getting some good time of possession,” Marchand said. “I was just trying to drive the net or open up a lane or something, and ‘CC’ did a great job of watching me go there and getting it out of my body. He made a great play throwing the ball away.”
Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo left in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
Note: MacKinnon had 45 points (16 goals, 29 assists) during a 22-game point streak at home. He also extended his current point streak to five games (three goals, seven assists). … MacKinnon’s assist marked his 267th career power play point, making him fifth all-time single in Avalanche/Nordiques history. … Marchand surpassed Rick Middleton to become the sole fifth place on Boston’s all-time scoring list with 899 points (389 goals, 510 assists). … Coyle extended his scoring streak to seven games (four goals, five assists). … Avalanche forward Jason Poulin made his NHL debut and finished with 4 minutes, 22 seconds of ice time.
