Avalanche power play springs to life, leads to 5-3 comeback win against Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — If the Colorado Avalanche power play starts to get rolling, look out.

Already the NHL’s dominant team at even strength and the No. 1-ranked penalty kill entering the day, Colorado’s power play led a dramatic third-period comeback Saturday night. The Avs scored twice in the final period with the man advantage, with a goal from ex-Carolina forward Jack Drury in between, leading to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

It was the 10th straight win for the Avs, who are now 31-2-7 after 40 games. The Avs now have two separate 10-game winning streaks this season.

“It was a great effort,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It would have been easy to pack it in, but I thought our guys, as soon as the puck hit the ice in the third, they were determined.

“It was great to see our power play capitalize. There was a little frustration early on because of the pressure they put on you. They found a way to stick with it and get better on that unit.”

Newly-minted Olympian Brock Nelson scored twice. Nathan MacKinnon had an empty-net goal and four points, retaking the league lead from Connor McDavid with 74. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves in his first start since Mackenzie Blackwood was put on injured reserve Friday.

Carolina led 3-1 heading into the third period. That lead did not last long.

Andrei Svechnikov took a tripping penalty 11 seconds into the third period, and the Avalanche power play started the comeback. Nelson tipped a wrist shot from MacKinnon past Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen at 1:09 of the third. It was Nelson’s 17th goal of the season.

Drury then tied this contest at 3-3 just 33 seconds later. Ross Colton set him up for a shot from the left circle and his seventh goal of the year.

“Huge goal,” Brent Burns, another former Carolina player returning for the first time since leaving, said. “He just does so many things right, so many hard things right. He’s such a great player, smart player. I try to sit next to him just to get some IQ into my head.”

Nelson’s 18th of the season and second of the night with the man advantage put Colorado in front at 7:30. It was one of the prettiest goals of the Avs season. It was a tic-tac-toe passing play, with Cale Makar sending the puck to MacKinnon, whose cross-ice slap-pass set up Nelson for an easy one from the right circle.

This is only the fourth time all season the Avs have scored multiple power-play goals in a game.

“It’s nice,” Nelson said. “Another different way to win a game for us. It was nice to get a couple and be a big difference maker in a big comeback win on the road against a good team.”

The power play that led to Nelson’s goal did not come without a cost. Devon Toews crashed into the end boards skates first and left the game. Nikolaj Ehlers was called for tripping on the play.

Toews was down for an extended period, but did return to the game late in the period. After the game, Bednar said he believes Toews is OK.

Carolina has been one of the most dangerous offensive teams while killing penalties for years, and the Hurricanes grabbed the lone goal of the first period while shorthanded. Sebastian Aho deflected a MacKinnon pass to Makar, and then got a piece of Makar as he tried to move the puck to Martin Necas.

Eric Robinson intercepted that pass and sent it to Aho, who had already taken off behind Makar and went in alone for a breakaway goal at 18:09 of the first. That was Aho’s first short-handed goal of the season, but it was the 37th shot attempt for Carolina with him on the ice on the PK, which is tops among all forwards in the NHL.

It was also Aho’s 300th career goal. That’s also three short-handed goals against in seven games.

Colorado’s struggles with the power play has been a season-long theme, the one leak in a warship that has dominated opponents in all other phases. The Avs began the day 29th in the NHL, converting 15.9% of their chances with the extra man and went empty on the first three opportunities, but Nelson’s two goals turned this game around.

Captain Gabe Landeskog brought Colorado even at 1:47 of the second at the end of a great shift from the top line. Landeskog went one way with the puck from behind the net, but then turned and wheeled back around before stuffing it past Andersen for his seventh goal of the season.

Carolina assumed control with a pair of goals before the second period was over. Ehlers made it a 2-1 game at 4:47 with a power-play goal. Zakhar Bardakov went to the box for colliding with Andersen behind the Hurricanes net, then Drury lost his stick during a sequence at the other end that ended with Ehlers finding a hole from the slot through a maze of bodies.

When Svechnikov got behind Toews for a goal at 7:50, the Hurricanes put Colorado in a multi-goal hole for just the sixth game this season. And the fourth time (five, if you count two multi-goal leads for Vegas on Dec. 27), the Avs erased the deficit.

“We found ourselves down, but I thought we had some good looks,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t a bad game to that point, but obviously not our best game.

“Just found a different way to win tonight. I think that is kind of the sign of who we are.”