Avalanche, Ducks collide in battle of division leaders

Nathan MacKinnon has one Hart Trophy, and he is playing as if he wants to win the NHL MVP for the second time in three seasons.

The Colorado center is off to a scorching start and leads the NHL in scoring after a nine-point weekend. MacKinnon will attempt to build on that momentum when the Avalanche host the streaking Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night in Denver.

Central Division-leading Colorado has won five of six games and tops the NHL with 25 points through 16 games. The Avalanche swept a weekend road trip in Canada, routing Edmonton Oilers 9-1 on Saturday night and beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime Sunday night, which was their first win beyond regulation in six tries this season.

MacKinnon was all over the stat sheet in both games. He had two goals and two assists on Saturday, then two more goals to go with three assists Sunday.

He leads the league in goals (14) and scoring (29 points), with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) coming during a nine-game point streak. He is on pace for his fourth straight 100-point season.

"It's unreal," Colorado's Cale Makar said. "He's finding ways to put the puck in the back of the net, going to the right areas and driving the play, too. It's definitely amazing to play with that guy every night."

The Sunday win was coach Jared Bednar's 400th, all of which have come with the Avalanche.

"It means a lot," Bednar said. "Certainly, grateful for the opportunity to continue to coach these guys. I love coaching them. A great group year after year."

Makar, who is the top-scoring defenseman in the NHL with six goals and 16 assists, is second in points for Colorado. Martin Necas (nine goals, 10 assists) is third, and Artturi Lehkonen (six goals, nine assists) is fourth after his two-goal game Sunday night.

MacKinnon isn't the only NHL player on a heater. Anaheim's Leo Carlsson had two goals Sunday to extend his point streak to 10 games. After his second consecutive multi-goal game, he was tied for second in the NHL in scoring with 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists).

He has exactly matched MacKinnon's output over the past 10 games with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists).

Cutter Gauthier (11 goals, nine assists) is second in scoring for Anaheim and Troy Terry (five goals, 14 assists) is third.

The Ducks' seven-game winning streak is the longest current run in the league, and Anaheim is 9-1-1 in the past 11 games, lifting the team into first place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim has not reached the postseason since 2017-18 but is on track to end that drought in coach Joel Quenneville's first season behind the bench.

"We wanted to get off to a great start, and I think we accomplished the good start," Quenneville said Sunday after the Ducks' 4-1 home win over the Winnipeg Jets. "Now, we want to make sure we create a standard and we want to improve off of it."

--Field Level Media