Kings’ woes continue in loss in Denver LA lose 13th of last 15

In Denver, the Los Angeles Kings lost for the 13th time in 15 games n a 5-1 loss to the Avalanche on Friday.

Nathan MacKinnon extended his active point streak to 25 games with a goal and two points on the night.

Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves in the win.

“Pretty happy with the way our guys played again tonight, from the goaltender out, against a really good team,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s nice to win a couple games and be playing some solid hockey going into the break. So guys feel good about it now and then get away from the game for a little bit, do a little bit of conditioning, and hopefully pick up where we left off.”

The Avalanche improved to 32-14-3.

Logan O’Connor hot for a double for the Avalanche, both goals coming in the first period.

O’Connor potted his first at 7:44 for a 1-0 lead to the Avs.

“The puck sort of like got deflected to me in the neutral zone a bit, and then I just figured I’d use the D-man as a screen,” O’Connor said. “I think the goalie maybe had a tough time seeing it through the traffic there, and then just tried to get it on net.”

O’Connor collected his double at  14:55 for a 2-0 lead for Colorado. .

“As a line, we’re just having a lot of fun out there and playing predictable to each other. We’re using our strengths to our advantage,” O’Connor said. “The second goal, it’s all the work by ‘Woody’ and [Colton] getting in on the forecheck and Woody finding me there. Maybe I put it in there, but the work happened a lot further ahead in the play.”

MacKinnon ballooned the lead to 3-0 at 18:30 of the first.

“Just because Nate and Mikko [Rantanen] and those guys have been tearing it up, doesn’t mean we haven’t been getting some decent contributions from the rest of our lineup here recently,” Bednar said. “That’s why we’re able to put up a handful of goals a night instead of one or two. It’s not just those guys contributing, but they’re obviously driving the bus.”

LA dropped to 22-15-9.

“I thought we started well and then gave a couple of goals up from distance and that set us back,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “But we had our opportunities to score as well, to pull ourselves back in the game and we didn’t do that. To get down to a team like this, it’s hard to come back, but I thought our guys stuck with it for most of the night.”

Kevin Fiala was the lone striker for the Kings, he scored at 6:20 of the middle frame to cut the deficit to 3-1 on a power play strike.

“I think it’s just the little details that we had going at the start of the year have gotten a little more lax all the way through, starting maybe with the back end,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “We know we have a good group in here. We have the right pieces, but at the same time we’ve got to start taking ownership of it as a group and turning this around.”

Josh Manson pushed the lead to 4-1 at 11:44 of the second period..

“It was just good talking by ‘Cogs’ right in the neutral zone, telling me to skate, that I had the space to move there, and then talking on the entry,” Manson said. “He let me know he was there to support, and then once I saw it, I just kind of kept my momentum. He made a nice play back to me, and I got lucky it went in.”

Cale Makar made it 5-1 with 31 seconds gone in the third period. Cam Talbot got the start for LA, but was given the hook in the first intermission after surrendering three goals and making just nine saves in the opening stanza.

David Rittich made 17 saves. in relief.