The trade deadline came and went Monday before the Avalanche began their final 15-game regular-season stretch. And the NHL’s points leaders recorded their league-best 29th victory.

Superstar center Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two points and Philipp Grubauer returned to the crease after getting two games off. In his last outing, Grubauer was pulled after surrendering seven goals on 18 shots in Minnesota. But against the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena, Grubauer made 35 saves as Colorado won 4-2, extending its winning streak to three games.

“Grubi was probably our best player,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t think we had a ton of energy throughout our lineup, but our top guys were good and we got the win.”

Left-wing Brandon Saad scored the opening goal and top-line winger Mikko Rantanen added two goals for the Avs, who are the only team in the NHL without 10 regulation losses as they continue to lead the league with 62 points (28-9-4) in 42 games. It’s the most points through 42 games in club history, passing the Cup-winning 2001 team.

The Coyotes rallied from a 3-0 deficit and made it 3-2 before it was cut short.

“They’re playing for their playoff lives and they came out hungry,” Avs coach Jared Bednar.

Grubauer’s 25th win is tied for the most in the NHL alongside Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. Grubauer has appeared in 34 of Colorado’s 42 games.

Leading 1-0 after the first period, Colorado got a power play in the second after Arizona’s Ilya Lyubushkin was called for slashing.

Colorado’s top unit went to work, and MacKinnon recorded his seventh goal in as many games — one-timing a pass from the right circle off a pass from defenseman Cale Makar. The tally extended MacKinnon’s point streak to 10 games, the longest active run in the NHL (seven goals, 18 points).

MacKinnon later assisted on a goal for Rantanen — the eventual game-winner. Colorado comfortably took a 3-0 lead into the third period but Arizona started to chip away at the lead.

First, a power-play goal from Michael Bunting with just under 10 minutes remaining to break Grubauer’s shutout bid. And after a turnover from Colorado, the Coyotes added another tally, this time from Johan Larsson, to make it 3-2 with 6:44 remaining.

“We maybe lost focus a little bit,” said Rantanen of the Coyotes’ comeback attempt. “But after that second goal, we were really sharp at the end and didn’t give up anything.”

After pulling the goalie and pinning the Avs’ top line in the defensive zone, Rantanen intercepted a pass and sent it down the ice into the empty net. His 25th of the season is second in the NHL behind Toronto’s Auston Matthews (32).

Rantanen finished the game with six penalty minutes after a last-minute tussle sent him to the box for roughing and cross-checking.

This was the finale of an eight-game series against the Coyotes, the latter two at Ball Arena which included late-game scrums. The Avs finished 6-1-1 against Arizona after closing out their eight games against Anaheim on Sunday (also 6-1-1).

Soderberg returns

Before the 1 p.m. NHL trade deadline, Colorado added Carl Soderberg, reacquiring the centerman from the Chicago Blackhawks almost two years after trading him to Arizona.

Soderberg, 35, recorded 57 goals and 151 points with Colorado over four seasons. Soderberg had seven goals and 15 points in 34 games with Chicago this season.

Soderberg gives the Avalanche additional forward depth in an already deep lineup. Bednar and his coaching staff are going to have their work cut out for them on any given night when deciding who plays and who doesn’t.

“It’s going to get competitive,” Bednar said. “We’re going to take advantage of the depth that we have and try to make sure that we’re playing rested guys and fresh guys — guys that are on top of their game.”

Makar reaches 30

Makar had two assists, giving him 30 points in 30 games. He is the 11th defenseman in the NHL to reach 30 points this year. Along with Sam Girard (31 points), Colorado is the only team with two 30-point scoring defensemen.