DENVER — Cale Makar had four assists and Artturi Lehkonen scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Colorado scored the first four goals. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with his ninth of the season at 14:13 of the first period, from Makar and Martin Necas.
The Avalanche added three in the second. Necas scored on the power play at 2:37, his seventh, from Nazem Kadri and MacKinnon. Lehkonen made it 3-0 at 5:48 with his 11th, from Makar and Devon Toews, and Brock Nelson's fourth, from Gabriel Landeskog and Makar at 9:07, pushed the lead to four. Joel Farabee got Calgary on the board at 10:50 with his fifth, from Mikael Backlund.
Martin Pospisil cut it to 4-2 at 1:59 of the third period, scoring his third from Ryan Strome and Zayne Parekh. Lehkonen restored the three-goal lead at 4:09 with his second of the night and 12th of the season, again from Makar and Toews, and that closed the scoring.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for Colorado. Arsenii Sergeev made 28 saves for Calgary, and Dustin Wolf dressed as the backup and did not play. Colorado outshot Calgary 33-27 and went 1-for-2 on the power play. The Flames did not get a power play, as the Avalanche took no penalties in the game.
Calgary (6-8-0) was playing for the second straight night after Friday's home win over Seattle. Colorado improved to 8-5-1. The Flames continue their road trip Monday in San Jose.
This recap is brought to you in part by Animas Painting — interior and exterior painting in Calgary. Reach Rafael at 403-604-5529.