DEVON TOEWS

Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Saturday night.

The Colorado Avalanche face their biggest task yet in the Stanley Cup Final looking to close out the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 on the road.

The Colorado Avalanche got a key player back with the return of Nazem Kadri for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Nazem Kadri scored three goals, including two during a four-goal second period barrage, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference series.

David Perron scored twice, Jordan Binnington made 30 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 to tie their second-round series at a game apiece.

The New York Rangers will play the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Valeri Nichushkin scored the game-winning goal with 7:58 left, and the Colorado Avalanche became the first team to advance to the second round Monday night by finishing a sweep of the Nashville Predators 5-3 Monday night.

Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 7-3 for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series.

Cale Makar scored 8:31 into overtime, Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves on his 32nd birthday and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews scored 22 seconds apart in a five-goal first period, sending the Colorado Avalanche to a 7-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

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Alex Galchenyuk was the only scorer in the shootout and the Arizona Coyotes rallied to beat Colorado 3-2, snapping the Avalanche’s 18-game home winning streak.

The Colorado Avalanche became the first team in 26 years to score seven goals in three straight games with a 7-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Logan O’Connor scored twice in a 22-second span in a five-goal second period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Rangers 7-3, ending New York’s seven-game winning streak.

The Colorado Avalanche will have their coach behind the bench when they face elimination against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Alex Tuch (89) races for the puck against the Colorado Avalanche during the first period of of Outdoor Lake Tahoe NHL hockey game at Stateline, Nev., Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli))STATELINE, Nev. – Nathan MacKinnon scored a dazzling goal more than nine hours after assisting on another to highlight a most unusual and lengthy outdoor game at Lake Tahoe that the Colorado Avalanche won 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Although it’s fair to say that none of those had the picturesque setting of this rink located on the 18th fairway of a golf course on the shores of Lake Tahoe and surrounded by trees with snow-covered mountains towering in the background. Fleury made 36 saves for Vegas and fell to 0-3 in three career outdoor game starts. AdPART 1The Avs controlled the play under the sun, getting an early goal from Girard and outshooting Vegas 17-8 in the first 20 minutes.

TORONTO, ONT Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots and the New York Islanders opened their best-of-five playoff series with a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday in the NHLs return following a 4 1/2-month break. Islanders trade deadline addition Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring re-directing in Derick Brassards centering pass 12 minutes into the game. The Islanders beat Florida for the fifth straight time, dating to the 2018-19 regular season, and continued keeping the high-scoring Panthers in check. NOTES: Panthers Joel Quenneville coached his 216th career playoff game, which ranks second on the all-time list. This is the second playoff meeting after the Islanders eliminated the Panthers in six games of a first-round series in 2016.