Mackenzie Blackwood, Avalanche post shutout of Kings

Martin Necas and Logan O'Connor scored 92 seconds apart in a three-goal second period and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 22 shots as the surging Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 in Denver on Thursday night.

Necas finished with two goals and an assist and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist as Blackwood notched his fourth shutout of the season and third with Colorado. Cale Makar had two assists for the Avalanche (45-25-3, 93 points), who have won four in a row and are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games.

Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist to extend his home point streak to 23 games. He has an NHL-best 108 points, three ahead of Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov.

David Rittich made 22 saves for Los Angeles (40-22-9, 89 points), which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Both teams had great opportunities when the game was still scoreless. With 7:50 left in the first period, Jeff Malott intercepted a clearing attempt by Colorado in the right circle and was alone on Blackwood, but the goaltender made the save.

Early in the second period, the Avalanche nearly got the first goal when a deflection went to the front of the net, but Rittich stopped Valerie Nichushkin's wrister to keep it scoreless.

Colorado then scored two quick goals to break the tie. O'Connor got the first one when Makar stickhandled down the left side, slid a pass into the slot to O'Connor, who tipped a floater over Rittich's left shoulder and in at 5:25.

Just 1:32 later, Samuel Girard took a shot from the point that went behind the net. Necas picked it up and jammed it inside the post at 6:57 to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead.

Later in the period, Warren Foegele went off for goaltender interference, giving Colorado its second power play. The Avalanche took advantage when Necas' one-timer from the left circle beat Rittich at 15:29.

Mikey Anderson took a tripping minor early in the third period and Drouin buried a pass from MacKinnon at 4:56.

--Field Level Media