In Calgary, the Colorado Avalanche dropped a 6-2 loss on the Flames on Tuesday night.
“It’s just who he is,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “The drive to be the best player he can be… keep improving his game in little areas and whether it’s just a fraction in one area that helps him get better and a fraction in another one, he’s constantly looking to improve. He seeks out any knowledge he can get to help make him better.
“He does it on the ice. He does it off the ice. He does it in his preparation. And that’s why he’s continuing to improve. He’s not slowing down. He’s getting better and better every year.”
Justus Annunen made 25 saves in the win.
The Avalanche moved to 41-20-5 off their fourth straight win.
“It’s big, obviously, to get the confidence boost before we go to the playoffs because there’s a lot of good teams in the West, a lot of additions at the (NHL Trade) Deadline that teams made,” the Avs’ Mikko Rantanen said. “It’s going to be tough, tough. If you want to win the West, it’s going to be really tough. We want to get confidence in the last 15 or so games.”
The Flames had taken a 2-1 lead in the opening stanza.
Rantanen staked the Avalanche to a 1-0 lead at 2:05 of the first, scoring off a power play.
Daniil Miromanov replied for Calgary at 3:24 to tie the game, 1-1.
Walker Duehr scored just over three minutes later to give the Flames a 2-1 lead, he scored off an odd man rush.
“We’re all professionals. We’ve got to dig in,” the Flames’ Rasmus Andersson said. “We play one of the best teams in the League and we’re up 2-1 after the first period, and then, you know, before the third starts it’s 6-2 them. It’s frustrating. It’s not acceptable.”
The Flames dropped to 31-29-5 off their third straight los, effectively ending their post season hopes.
“I think we got three good lessons here, simple as that,” Calgary’s Mikael Backlund said. “Everyone in this room has to look at himself and be better. Next game, we have to play a lot better than we have the last three. Regardless of the result, just better effort, better systems, structure. Everything’s got to be better.”
In the middle frame, the Avs hit for five unanswered goals.
Colorado tied it, 2-2, on a strike by Josh Manson at 4:52 of the second.
MacKinnon picked up his goal at 5:50 for a 3-2 lead to the Avalanche.
“I think when you’re playing against him or even watching him, it might make you a little angry just wondering how he does it,” Colorado’s Casey Mittelstadt said of MacKinnon. “He’s a great player. There’s very few guys in the world that can do that.”
Valeri Nichushkin stretched the lad to 4-2 at 7:53, scoring from the slot.
Mittelstadt padded the lead with a goal at 14:10, makig it 5-2.
Rantanen collected his double with 46 seconds left in the frame for the 6-2 final count on the scoreboard.
“I think even if you were to ask me in Buffalo, I would’ve said Mikko is the most und
errated player in the League, for sure,” Mittelstadt said. “Just the plays, and the plays him and Nate make together is crazy. I’m happy to be on their side.”
Dan Vladar got the start for Calgary, yielding all six goals in the loss. He made allowed six goals, making 29 saves, before getting the hook in the second intermission.
Dustin Wolf made three saves in a mop up role in the third period.
“I don’t think effort’s ever been an issue, really. We work hard out there,” the Flames’ Nazem Kadri said. “Obviously, there’s some plays that we wouldn’t want to happen. I don’t know if it’s an effort thing. It’s more of a lapse of judgement, bad reads. Effort’s never been an issue for us.”
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