DENVER — The Avs seem to encounter few obstacles more mystifying than a Coyotes team with nothing to lose.
They will see Arizona two more times before the end of March, and they’ll have those two chances to crack the code of a supposedly easy opponent that has refused to give Colorado any cakewalks recently.
The latest in that frustrating saga was the Avalanche’s 3-2 win Saturday at Ball Arena. It took a Cale Makar overtime goal to finally snap a three-game losing streak against the Coyotes dating back to February 2022.
Colorado (36-22-6) outshot Arizona 16-0 in the third period but had to labor to finish the four-game home stand with a .625 point percentage. Nathan MacKinnon extended his home point streak to 16 games and home goal streak to nine games, the latter setting a new franchise record.
The Avalanche claimed an early lead when Brad Hunt scooped a puck out of the defensive zone to the opposite end of the ice, where Denis Malgin collected it along the boards and put on a startling burst of speed. He backhanded it into the net to finish another stellar individual effort — his sixth goal in the last 13 games. Alex Newhook was credited with a secondary assist for winning the defensive-zone faceoff.
But it became clear early that Arizona would not come and go as submissively as San Jose earlier in the week. After forcing Alexandar Georgiev to make two saves in the first 15 seconds, the Coyotes waited more than six minutes for their next shot on goal. The Avs made a poorly timed line change, and Bo Byram tripped in the D-zone. Jack McBain tied it.
Clayton Keller gave them the lead. During a breakout late in the first period, Byram, Devon Toews, MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen all got caught puck-watching Barrett Hayton, while Keller snuck in the backdoor unmarked.
The Avs dominated the middle period but returned to the locker room with only a tie game to show for it. For a catalyst, they turned to their special teams. MacKinnon was displeased at a no-call during a power play after he was tripped, so he barked at the referees, scored the tying goal, then barked some more. Meanwhile at the other end, Colorado killed its 16th consecutive penalty.
The Avs’ push somehow intensified in the third period, but Arizona goalie Connor Ingram was stubborn in a superb 41-save performance while his team only managed 20 shots.
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