ST. LOUIS (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 44 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Thursday night.
Mikko Rantanen also scored twice to help the Avalanche win their third straight to move into the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, one point ahead of idle Dallas – and five ahead of St. Louis. The Avalanche, who won 10 in a row from Dec. 29-Jan. 22, are 6-0-3 in their last eight games.
Joel Edmundson scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen finished with 19 saves.
MacKinnon scored twice in a span of 2:53 in the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. He has 11 goals and 13 assists in 13 games since returning from a shoulder injury on Feb. 18.
MacKinnon, who leads the team with 35 goals, had his 24 multipoint game, the most by a Colorado player since Joe Sakic posted 28 in the 2006-07 season.
Edmundson pulled the Blues within one at 9:15 of the second with his seventh.
Rantanen slipped a backhander past Allen with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the middle period, and added an empty-netter with 41 seconds to go in the third. made 30 saves in 2{ periods of relief.
Winnipeg had been outscored 7-2 in losing its previous two games against Central Division rival Chicago this season. games against Central Division rival Chicago this season.
