Makar scores late to lift Avalanche past Blues

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Cale Makar scored the tiebreaking goal with 40.1 seconds left in regulation, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their point streak to 14 in a row with a stunning 2-1 victory over the visiting St Louis Blues on Saturday night in Denver. After St Louis failed to clear the puck out of its own zone, Makar picked it up off the board and drilled a slap shot that deflected off the stick of St. Louis defenseman Jaden Schwartz and found its way past Blues rookie netminder Ville Husso (32 saves) to break a 1-1 tie in the waning seconds of the contest. Nathan MacKinnon, who scored twice in Friday's 3-2 victory over St. Louis, had another goal and Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for the West Division-leading Avs, who are amid a 12-0-2 stretch the second-longest point streak in club history. Colorado is also 11-0-1 in its last 12 at home. Ryan O'Reilly scored for St Louis, which is mired in a season-high 0-5-1 rut, and has dropped four straight on the road. After Colorado scored within the first four minutes of Friday's contest, St. Louis was the aggressor early and recorded the game's first seven shots on goal. However, the Avalanche's offense woke up, and with 8:33 left in the opening period, MacKinnon struck from the right of the dot in the near circle for a 1-0 lead. The Blues, though, tied things with 1:57 left in the opening frame. Seconds after St. Louis' power play ended, O'Reilly managed to get enough of his stick on the puck amid some heavy traffic in front of the Colorado net to get it by Grubauer. Though neither team scored in the second period, St Louis' Robert Thomas and Colorado's Nazem Kadri failed to convert breakaway attempts during the frame. Husso was particularly sharp with several key saves in the second. Wild complete comeback victory over Golden Knights Third-period goals 55 seconds apart by Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek gave the visiting Minnesota Wild a 2-1 comeback victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. Goaltender Cam Talbot made 27 saves for the Wild, who not only beat the Golden Knights in consecutive clashes in Vegas, but also moved within two points of Vegas for the second spot in the West Division. Minnesota has won four of the six meetings between the teams this season, and four of seven overall, while Talbot who held the fort in the waning minutes while the hosts pushed for the equalisers has been outstanding in the last month, posting a 7-1-1 record in his last nine starts. Minnesota skaters also blocked 26 shots in the win. Tomas Nosek scored in the first period for Vegas, while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 25 shots. The Golden Knights have dropped three straight games, all on home ice. Vegas went more than a calendar year without losing consecutive home games before Minnesota arrived for the first clash in this two-game set. With the Golden Knights, who went into the clash boasting a 15-0-0 record this season when leading after two periods, holding a 1-0 edge, Kaprizov cued the comeback with a power-play goal. Kaprizov set up shop at the side of the net and made no mistake with the golden chance set up by Eriksson Ek's cross-ice pass 6:13 into the third period. Kaprizov leads all NHL rookies with 14 goals and 31 points. Then, Eriksson Ek scored the game-winning goal on the next shift. Shortly after a face-off win in Vegas territory, Jordan Greenway set up Eriksson Ek inthe slot. His first attempt was denied, but he buried the rebound to cap a two-point outing. The Golden Knights also blew a third-period lead in Thursday's clash, which was tied 1-1 after two periods but became a 2-1 Vegas lead early in the period before the Wild claimed a 3-2 shootout win. Nosek opened the scoring with a unique goal in the opening frame. Alex Tuch, from the side boards at the blueline, simply dumped the puck into the far corner. The puck caromed to the slot and a few players didn't take possession. Nosek grabbed it and quickly whipped a shot home at the 5:33 mark. Results: Avalanche    2-1    Blues Lightning    2-1    Red Wings Sabres    3-2    Rangers Islanders    3-2    Flyers Wild    2-1    Golden Knights Senators    6-3    Canadiens Bruins    7-5    Penguins Predators    3-0    Blackhawks Panthers    5-2    Blue Jackets Stars    3-2    Hurricanes Sharks    3-2    Kings MENAFN04042021000067011011ID1101861103