Nathan MacKinnon earned a point in his 33rd straight home game to open the season Friday with an easy 6-1 win for the Colorado Avalanche over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
MacKinnon ties Wayne Gretzky for the second-longest home game points streak in NHL history. Gretzky holds the record for the longest such streak, 40 games in 1988-89. MacKinnon passed Guy Lafleur, who had a point in 32 straight games in Montreal in 1978-79.
The Avalanche earned their eighth straight win.
Mikko Rantanen collected his two goals (38 and 39) this season, in addition to obtaining an assist. MacKinnon and Cale Makar each had a goal and an assist, scoring their 43rd and 18th goals of the season, respectively.
Alexander Georgiev made 23 saves, Jonathan Drouin made two goals, and Ross Colton and Valeri Nishushkin each scored for the Avalanche, who outscored them 51-24. The Avalanche had a significant 22-7 upper hand in that department in the second half.
Elvis Merzlikins scored six times before that barrage of shots.
Trailing 1-0 after a Damon Severson goal, the Avalanche scored six straight goals.
MacKinnon scored on a breakaway with 6:01 remaining in regulation. He also got help. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 45 shots.
Colton scored the winning goal and Rantanen doubled the Avalanche's lead 1:24 later in the second period.
Rantanen is just four points away from a second straight 100-point season.
“Bean” and “stars” add to the penguins' problems
Jimmy Benn scored two goals 1:17 apart in the second period, as the Dallas Stars beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2.
The Stars captain now has 15 goals this season, including six in his last eight matches.
Michael Bunting scored on the Penguins' third shot. Rickard Rakell also hit the target in the loss.
Jake Oettinger made 20 stops for the Stars.
The Penguins are 2-10-2 in their last 14 road games.
Joe Pavelski scored his 25th goal of the season to tie the score in the first half.
Jason Robertson provided two assists, bringing his total to 48 this season, marking his fifth game with at least two points in his last seven games.
Tristan Jarry made way for Aleksandar Nedjeljkovic after Sam Steele's goal early in the third period. Jarry allowed four goals on 20 shots.
Guenther hands the Kraken the seventh straight loss
Dylan Guenther raced alone against the goalie and scored the game-winning goal 4:12 into overtime and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Seattle Kraken 2-1.
The Kraken lost their seventh straight game.
Clayton Keller tied the score with 1:08 remaining in regulation for the Coyotes, scoring his 29th goal of the season.
In the net, Karel Vemlka stopped 26 shots in the victory.
Rookie Ricker Evans hit the target for the first time in his career in the third period.
Joey Daccord made 19 saves for the Kraken.
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