Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames

Nathan MacKinnon has 3 assists to regain NHL points lead and help Avalanche beat Flames 4-2

MacKinnon has 83 points on 20 goals and an NHL-best 63 assists — to take a two-point lead over Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, with the Avalanche set to face the Oilers on Friday night.

Cale Makar had his 20th goal of the season for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 27 shots.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored his team-leading 21st goal for Calgary. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson also scored and Dustin Wolf made 30 saves.

Huberdeau’s goal at 3:22 of the first period came on a two-man advantage.

Takeaways Avalanche: From Calgary, Makar is the first NHL defenseman to reach 20 goals this season. He’s the eighth defenseman in NHL history with three or more 20-goal campaigns in his first six seasons, joining Paul Coffey (five), Denis Potvin (five), Ray Bourque (four), Bobby Orr (four), Steve Duchesne, Phil Housley and Reed Larson.

Flames: The Flames are the first team to score 5-on-3 in three straight games since the Phoenix Coyotes on Jan. 23-26, 2013.

Key moment Makar tied it at 1 early in the second period to ignite Colorado’s big second-period push. The Avs took the lead for good four minutes later on Lehkonen’s 22nd goal. The Avs outscored Calgary 3-0 and outshot it 17-3 in the middle period.

Key stat MacKinnon had his 18th career three-point period.

Up next The Avalanche are at Edmonton on Friday night. The Flames host Seattle on Saturday night.

COL leads series 1-0