Offtopic » After a 6-5 loss to the Winnipeg Jets

DENVER (AP) This illustrates just how well things have been going for Nathan MacKinnon: He fanned on a shot Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey , got it back, skated to the other side, launched the puck toward the net, hit a defender and in it goes.”Lucky,” he said.They all count the same.MacKinnon kept up his torrid scoring with two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov was sharp in making 37 saves and the Colorado Avalanche extended Detroit’s skid to 10 straight games by beating the Red Wings 5-1 on Sunday.Gabriel Landeskog, Blake Comeau and Tyson Barrie also scored to help the Avalanche remain in playoff position with 10 games remaining. The Avs have 86 points after finishing with a league-low 48 last season.”I like the way we’re playing. A lot of good. There’s a lot of good,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. ”We’re competing harder than we’ve competed all year I feel like during this stretch. There’s a sense of urgency to our game.”MacKinnon remains among the league’s top scoring leaders with 89 points. His goal in the second period gave Colorado a 3-0 lead and came on a backhand with Niklas Kronwall trying to cover him.The defenseman couldn’t.The 22-year-old MacKinnon sealed the win with his 38th of the season in the third period – on a wraparound that hit off a Detroit defenseman and deflected in.It’s just the way things have been going for him.Soon after, he was serenaded with ”MVP” chants. His coach doesn’t disagree after MacKinnon became the first Colorado player to score more than 36 goals in a season since 2002-03, when Milan Hejduk had 50.”I can’t imagine there’s another player that means more to their team and doing more for their team than what Nate’s doing for us,” Bednar said. ”That’s just the way I see it. He is the driving force to our offense and it’s consistent.”Justin Abdelkader had a goal for the Red Wings Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , who fell to 0-9-1 during a winless streak in which they’ve been outscored by a 41-19 margin. It’s the team’s longest winless streak since a 12-game run in 1989.”We’re so far back, but every time we put on the Red Wings logo, you go out and play the hardest you can,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said.Varlamov showed no signs of fatigue despite playing in his 17th straight game (15 starts). He’s been pressed into more duty of late with backup Jonathan Bernier sidelined by a concussion.Barrie’s goal late in the third came with a two-man advantage and extended his points streak to 10 straight games. Abdelkader, who was in the penalty box, was given a misconduct after the goal and sent to the locker room. He slammed his stick on the way out.”It’s frustration. It’s not fun,” Abdelkader said. ”We’ve just got to continue to stick together here. It’s not one guy, it’s not two guys, it’s not three guys that are going to do it. It’s a team of 20.”Colorado remains tough at home, improving to 15-2-1 over its last 18 games at the Pepsi Center.The Avs scored on a pair of tip-ins during a dominant first period – one by Landeskog and another by Comeau.An injury-riddled Colorado team received a big boost with defenseman Erik Johnson and forward Vladislav Kamenev returning to the ice Sunday. It didn’t take Johnson long to make his presence felt, dishing out a big hit in the opening seconds. He’s been sidelined by an upper-body injury since he was hurt against Edmonton on Feb. 18.Kamenev has been out since November with a broken arm. He was acquired as part of the three-team trade that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa.”Right now we are feeling very confident Adidas Cam Ward Jersey ,” Barrie said.NOTES: Detroit D Jonathan Ericsson played in his 600th career NHL game. … Red Wings goaltender Jared Coreau made 26 stops. … Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists. … D Patrik Nemeth took a high-stick to the face in the third period and appeared to lose a tooth.UP NEXTRed Wings: Host Philadelphia on Tuesday night after concluding a five-game trip.Avalanche: At Chicago on Tuesday night before returning home for two games.— CHICAGO — As the Calgary Flames turn the page on the calendar to a new month, they hope the momentum from a successful surge through late November carries over.Entering Sunday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Flames have won two of their past three games and seven of their last 10. Calgary hopes to keep surging ahead against Chicago, which has struggled to settle into any kind of groove since early this season.The Flames head east after a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday in which Calgary’s defense limited the Kings to 14 shots. The Calgary offense also came alive in a third period when the Flames scored three goals, including the game-winner by Johnny Gaudreau, whose goal 7:41 into the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and allowed the Flames to keep moving in a positive direction.Article continues below ...“We’re a confident group,” Calgary center Sean Monahan told reporters after the victory, according to the team’s official website. “You come to the rink every day and you want to win. I think with the group we have in here, the guys that are in here coming to compete every day we have a good chance every night.”The Flames (15-9-2) had to demonstrate some patience in the victory, which was on display until they could find the back of the net more than they did during the first two periods of Friday’s game. But after producing the three late goals, the Flames proved that they can rely on their defense until their goal scorers can get going.“Through 40 (minutes) Adidas Matt Calvert Jersey , it didn’t seem like much was going on,” goalie Mike Smith told reporters after he made 13 saves. “It was a pretty boring game to be honest. But saying that, that can lead to some inconsistencies in your game and I thought our guys did a really good job of sticking with it. That’s a team … they’ve been like that for how long now? Just a team that waits for you to make a mistake and make you pay.”The Blackhawks (9-13-5) enter Sunday’s game riding a three-game losing streak after a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Chicago has surrendered 19 goals in the three games and allowed three goals in less than five minutes of a disastrous first period.The frustration level has continued to mount throughout Jeremy Colliton’s short tenure as coach after he replaced Joel Quenneville. After a 6-5 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, Colliton told reporters that the time for excuse-making is over.Saturday’s road loss only made matters worse as the Blackhawks prepare for the Flames, but Colliton said his team can’t blame anyone for its predicament outside of itself.“We’ve got to tell the truth to the team and then they need to respond,” Colliton told reporters after the loss to Winnipeg, according to the Chicago Tribune. Colliton has said the Blackhawks’ compete level needs to improve and that it needs to filter throughout a lineup that has its share of veteran leadership. But asked if the veterans need to keep the heads up of Chicago’s younger players through tough times, defenseman Duncan Keith — who was ejected from Saturday’s loss — bristled at the notion.“This is the NHL,” Keith told reporters Thursday, according to the Tribune. “It’s not really a developmental league. It’s about winning. It’s about results. That makes it more fun. Winning. Winning games.”