DENVER â Martin NeÄas recorded two goals and two assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6â3 victory at Ball Arena on Thursday night, securing their fifth consecutive win while sending the Buffalo Sabres to their fifth straight loss.
Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games (eight goals, 15 assists), while Gabriel Landeskog netted the 250th goal of his NHL career and Gavin Brindley contributed a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (12â1â5). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 19 shots in the win.
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Martin Necas makes it look so easy!For the Sabres, former Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram found the scoresheet, while Tage Thompson contributed a goal and an assist. Jordan Greenway added a tally of his own for Buffalo (5-8-4), a club mired in a five-game skid and losers in eight of their last nine.
Goaltender Alex Lyon surrendered two goals on three shots before being pulled at 6:10 of the opening period in favor of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who steadied the net with 26 saves in relief.
NeÄas delivered a four-point performance in response to consecutive outings that head coach Jared Bednar characterized as below his usual standard.
"I thought Marty had a really nice bounce back game," he stated. "He's had, not from a lack of effort, but probably not his most detailed last couple of games. He had a meeting this morning with (Dave Hakstol) and looked at some things; he was better tonight, and he found the back of the net a couple of times, so a big performance by him to get back on track."
First Period
Just 52 seconds into the game, Cale Makar spotted NeÄas streaking down the middle and sent him on a breakaway. NeÄas buried a top-shelf wrister past Lyon to give Colorado an early 1â0 lead.
A short time later, Buffaloâs Beck Malenstyn got into it with a couple of Avs, but the confrontation cooled quickly once Landeskog grabbed hold of his helmet and ripped it off. Officials stepped in, and no penalties were issued.
At 6:10 of the period, the Avs extended the lead to 2â0 when Artturi Lehkonen punched in a rebound off a Sam Malinski shot.
Following the second goal, the Sabres pulled Lyon in favor of Luukkonen.
Buffalo answered not long after, capitalizing when Blackwood mishandled a cover attempt, allowing former Av Byram to score against his old team.
Two minutes later, Colorado struck again to make it 3â1. Brindley fed Ross Colton at the blue line, and Colton redirected the puck to Brock Nelson, who quickly snapped a wrist shot over Luukkonenâs right shoulder to restore the two-goal cushion.
Nearly four minutes after that, the Avs got caught napping. Buffaloâs Owen Power lofted the puck into Coloradoâs defensive zone, and Jordan Greenway hustled to win the race, batting it out of the air past Blackwood to cut the deficit back to one.
Late in the period, Landeskog scored off a rebound, but the goal was waved off after officials ruled that Jack Drury had committed goaltender interference on the play.
Second Period
Early in the second period, Josh Manson one-timed a shot from the point off a pass from Brent Burns, but Luukkonen slid to his right to make the save.
Colorado went on the penalty kill at 6:30 after Landeskog was called for tripping Byram. Once the Avs killed it off, the Sabres took their turn in the box after Owen Power tripped Necas along the boards. The Avs immediately turned on the jets off the rush on the ensuing power play, with MacKinnon carrying the puck up ice and snapping a quick shot, only for Luukkonen to snag it with the glove.
MacKinnon headed to the box moments later after falling and swinging his stick into Byramâs knees, drawing a slashing call. The Sabres capitalized on the power play when Thompson blasted a one-timer off a feed from Isak Rosen past an outstretched Blackwood.
Gavin Brindley, the young phenom, came up big once again, giving the Avs a 4â3 lead with 3:22 left in the period. He took a pass from Manson and fired a wrister that beat Luukkonen blocker-side, sending the home crowd into pure jubilation.
Third Period
The Avalanche opened the final period on the power play after Tyson Kozak was assessed a high-sticking minor on Ross Colton. No blood was drawn, so the call remained a standard two-minute infraction. Coloradoâs top unit generated several high-quality chances, but Luukkonen stood tall, turning away each attempt with poised, technical efficiency.
Moments later, Sam Girardâmaking his first appearance in 15 games following an upper-body injuryânearly authored a storybook return. He fired a shot from the left circle toward a wide-open net, only for Luukkonen to sprawl across the crease and deflect it in a highlight-reel save that ultimately rang off the post.
Meanwhile, Taylor Makar, younger brother of Cale, delivered a performance well beyond what might be expected less than 24 hours after being recalled from the Colorado Eagles. Though Luukkonen denied his scoring attempts, Makar was a persistent presence in the Sabresâ zone, applying sustained, intelligent pressure and consistently driving play in Coloradoâs favor.
NeÄas scored his second of the night with 3:07 when he one-timed a shot in the slot from MacKinnon to give the Avalanche a 5-3 lead. Landeskog subsequently added an empty-net goal with less than two minutes to go in regulation to seal a 6-3 win for the Avalanche, although it appeared NeÄas was going to go for the hat trick, he instead put his team first and served up a freebie for the captain to get him on the board.
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