DENVER (AP) — Logan O’Connor scored short-handed for the third straight game, one of five Colorado goals in the second period, Arturri Lehkonen had a goal and two assists, and the Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 on Saturday night.
Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Ryan Johansen and Fredrik Olofsson also scored and Alexander Georgiev made 23 saves for Colorado, which has started the season 5-0 for the first time in four years.
O’Connor became the seventh player to score short-handed in at least three consecutive games and tied Joe Sakic’s franchise record set in 1998. Dave Reid had short-handed goals in four straight games for Toronto in 1990.
O’Connor’s goal on the penalty kill gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 1:57 of a wild second period. Brent Burns and Michael Bunting scored 1:25 apart midway through the period to give Carolina a 3-2 lead but Colorado’s offense took over for the final eight minutes.
Olofsson, Lehkonen and MacKinnon scored in a 3:36 span to put the Avalanche in front 5-3 and Rantanen added a power-play goal at 19:35 to cap the four-goal period.
Jesper Kotkaniemi and Jaccob Slavin also scored goals, Stefan Noesen had two assists and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 22 shots for the Hurricanes, who are 2-3 on their six-game road trip that wraps up at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
PERFECT NO MORE
Colorado didn’t give up a power-play goal through the first four games and killed off the Hurricanes’ first two chances to extend its streak to 19. Burns ended the streak with his goal midway through the second.
CHASING HISTORY
The Avalanche need one more win to match the 2013-14 team for the best start since the team moved to Colorado before the 1995-96 season. The 1985-86 Quebec Nordiques started 7-0-0, tops in franchise history.
AILING CANES
Carolina center Sebastian Aho missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury while goaltender Frederik Anderson was out for the second consecutive game due to precautionary reasons.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: At Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.
Avalanche: At New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
