Avs block Senators for win

In Ottawa, rookie Cale Makar had a goal and two points for the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-1 win over the Senators on Thursday.

Cale Makar had a goal and two points for the Avalanche – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

“I mean, I’m not too surprised with his (Makar) play anymore,” Nazem Kadri said. “It’s just kind of at the point where we expect it now. That’s how good he is. He’s going to bring it every single night. He holds himself to a high standard and he’s definitely accountable for such a young age.”

Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves to get the win.

“No passengers on the bench,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of his team’s effort. “[Defense] corps were all involved, all of our lines played pretty well. … The simplicity of our game — move it, shoot it — early on was real effective for us, gave us some scoring chances. When we put pucks in on the forecheck, we were tenacious on pucks in turning them over, creating some more scoring opportunities.”

Brady Tkachuk was the lone goal scorer for the Sens.

“You have to come out and establish a forecheck, you’ve got to shoot pucks,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “We came out too fancy against a team that has way too much talent to play that way.”

Valeri Nichushkin, Matt Nieto and J.T. Compher also scored for the Avs.

“We’re such a deep team that it’s tough for teams to stay with us,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “It’s awesome to see guys step up.”

[WATCH: All Avalanche vs. Senators highlights]

Marcus Hogberg made 30 saves in the loss.

“Every time I had a Grade A chance there, they were on one knee making the block,” Tkachuk said of Colorado. “That just showed how ready they were to play and how important the two points were for them tonight. We played better as the game went on, but we just need to be better from the drop of the puck.”