Cale Makar was unavailable in Calgary following an undisclosed injury two nights earlier. Without their superstar defenseman and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner, the Avalanche still continued their recent offensive charge, defeating the Flames 4-1 to increase their winning streak to three games.
A native of Calgary, Makar was injured in Monday’s 6-3 victory over Detroit, according to coach Jared Bednar, and is day to day. The 24-year-old is on the trip with the Avs, who will play in Vancouver on Friday and Seattle on Saturday before returning home.
Colorado entered the game losers of 3 of its last four games on the road but has also found a way to get back on track over the past handful of games. The panic that started to set in following a loss to Chicago last week has quickly been erased.
Just like they did in their previous two games, the Avalanche quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to an early tally from superstar Mikko Rantanen followed by two goals in a 1:57 stretch from winger Artturi Lehkonen.
Lehkonen’s fourth and fifth goals over the past three games gave the Avalanche their third three-goal period in that stretch.
Rantanen later added an empty netter for the Avs, who have outscored the opposition 17-4 since Saturday. Colorado scored in seven consecutive periods before being blanked by Calgary in the middle frame.
After goaltender Pavel Francouz’s return from injury, and three consecutive starts, goalie Alexandar Georgiev was back between the pipes and registered his first victory since Jan. 7 at Edmonton. Georgiev made 34 saves and was the difference in the final 40 minutes when Calgary was trying to chip away the thee-goal deficit. Georgiev improved to 17-11-3 on the season — which puts him among the top 10 in goaltender wins.
Rantanen’s first-period goal was another franchise record-breaking tally. After breaking Hall of Famer Joe Sakic’s record for most goals in the first 41 games of a season (29), Rantanen became the fasted player in franchise history to 30 goals — accomplishing the feat in 43 games. The empty netter was his 31st.
Rantanen is the sixth forward in the NHL to reach the 30-goal mark this season and is on pace to blow past his career-high (36 goals) from a season ago.
The Avalanche entered the match four points back of Calgary for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference. They’re now just two back of the Flames with three games in hand and trail Minnesota by five points for third place in the Central Division.
