Avs continue tear, defeat Flames for 7th straight time

Parker Kelly scored twice to lead the red-hot Colorado Avalanche to a 4-2 road victory over the Calgary Flames on Friday.

Ryan Lindgren and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche, who sit third in the Central Division despite being on a 7-0-1 tear.

Goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves for Colorado, which has won seven consecutive meetings between the rivals.

Blake Coleman and Jonathan Huberdeau replied for the Flames, who remain in the Western Conference's second wild-card position. In a strong performance, goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 24 shots, including a Cale Makar penalty shot attempt midway through the second period when Colorado led 1-0.

Colorado outshot the hosts by a 7-2 count in the opening frame and were rewarded when Lindgren snapped a 28-game goal drought at 13:21 of the period. With the screen in front of the net, Lindgren's long wrist shot from the point found the mark for his first goal since Dec. 30.

Kelly doubled Colorado's lead at 15:24 of the second period. After he collected a loose puck at the Calgary blue line for a partial breakaway, Kelly whipped a shot from the slot just inside the post to snap a 20-game goalless stretch.

Coleman put the Flames on the board at 3:07 of the third period with his first goal in 15 games, coming when he pounced on a rebound after Matt Coronato's long shot was stopped.

However, Kelly restored Colorado's two-goal edge less than three minutes later. Seconds after the Flames had a potential game-tying shot ring off the post, Colton stole the puck deep in the Calgary zone and set up Kelly for a tap-in from the slot.

Huberdeau again made it a one-goal game with 3:38 remaining in regulation time, credited with the power-play goal after the point shot went off his shoulder, up over Wedgewood and into the net.

Nichushkin's empty-net goal sealed the game.

The Flames announced earlier in the day that captain Mikael Backlund would be out on a week-to-week basis due to an upper-body injury. Calgary forward Connor Zary served the first half the two-game suspension he was handed for a hit on Vancouver Canucks defenseman Elias N. Pettersson on Wednesday.

-Field Level Media