MacKinnon scores 2 as league-leading Avs dump visiting Canucks 3-1

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Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, leading the Colorado Avalance to a 3-1 win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks in NHL action Tuesday at Ball Arena in Denver.

Brock Nelson had the other goal for Colorado (19-1-6). Scott Wedgewood stopped 10 of 11 shots in the Avalanche goal before leaving midway through the second period with an upper body injury. Mackenzie Blackwood finished up, making 12 saves.

Linus Karlsson had the lone goal for the Canucks (10-14-3), while Kevin Lankinen took the loss in goal, stopping 28 shots.

Vancouver opened the scoring 2:55 into the first period, when Karlsson finished off a nice three-way passing play with Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty. Karlsson scored his fifth of the year, taking a feed from Bains, pulling the puck across the goal and beating Wedgewood with a backhand.

With seven minutes to go in the period, Kiefer Sherwood had a great chance to put the Canucks up by two, but was stopped on a breakaway by Wedgewood.

MacKinnon pulled the Avs even at 1-1 with 37 seconds left in the frame. Lankinen stopped a point shot but a big rebound popped to MacKinnon who beat the Canucks goalie stick-side from the bottom of the left offensive circle.

Nelson gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 13:52 of the second, slipping in behind the Vancouver defence and firing a short-side shot past Lankinen.

MacKinnon scored again in the last 40 seconds of a period in the middle frame, one-timing home a pass from Gabriel Landeskog with 34 seconds to play. MacKinnon now has 22 goals on the year.

Vancouver pulled Lankinen in favour of an extra attacker with just more than two minutes to go in the third, but couldn’t manage to draw any closer.

The Canucks host the Utah Mammoth Friday (6 p.m.) at Rogers Arena.

NOTES: The Avs have picked up at least one point in 17 straight games… Colorado outshot the Canucks 31-23… Vancouver Quinn Hughes leads league in ice time, more than 27 minutes per game… Both teams went 0-for-1 on the power play.