MacKinnon, Avalanche beat Panthers 2-1
DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon had two goals, Semyon Varlamov had 32 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Thursday night.
It was MacKinnon's third two-goal game this season and it helped Colorado (15-14-2) beat Florida for the second time in five days. The Avalanche beat the Panthers 7-3 in Florida on Saturday night.
Aleksander Barkov scored for Florida (12-15-5) and James Reimer had 28 saves but couldn't stop MacKinnon with the game tied.
MacKinnon was denied a goal by Reimer's glove at 4:44 of the third, but he got the best of the goalie two minutes later for the game winner.
He got a pass from Mark Barberio at the Florida blue line and got around defenseman Aaron Ekblad. MacKinnon's shot went off Reimer's body on the short side and in at 6:44. It was his 13th goal of the season.
The Panthers pulled Reimer for an extra skater with 1:36 left but couldn't get the equalizer.
MacKinnon, double shifting on the fourth line, gave Colorado a 1-0 lead when he beat Reimer from the top of the left circle at 3:15 of the second period.
The Panthers tied it up with a shorthanded goal later in the second. Jamie McGinn stripped the puck from Samuel Girard behind Colorado's net and then fed Barkov streaking down the left side, and he shot it past Varlamov for his 11th of the season at 10:27.
Vincent Trocheck nearly gave Florida the lead minutes later but his shot rang off the post.
The Avalanche outshot Florida 16-12 in the first period but it was the Panthers with the higher-quality chances. Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau grazed posts with shots and Varlamov made a big save on a rebound shot in the slot by Connor Brickley in the final minutes of the period.
NOTES: The Avalanche weren't called for a penalty until midway through the third period. ... Florida has now scored six shorthanded goals this season, which is tied with San Jose for most in the NHL this season. Colorado has allowed six goals on its power play. ... Florida C Denis Malgin was scratched with an upper-body injury. Malgin, who has four goals in 14 games, left Tuesday's overtime loss in Chicago and was ruled out after Thursday's morning skate. ... Avalanche C Alexander Kerfoot missed his second straight game with a foot injury. Kerfoot was hurt when he took a shot from teammate Erik Johnson off the foot in Monday's win at Pittsburgh.