Avalanche obliterate Coyotes 9-3, MacKinnon ejected late

It was over only eight minutes in.

That’s how long it took the Avalanche to build a 5-1, first-period lead that proved insurmountable in front of hometown fans — first responders, healthcare workers and players’ families — for the first time in more than a year.

Joonas Donskoi completed the fastest hat trick in Avalanche history, opening the scoring and potting two more after teammates Andre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had their turns.

“The fans were terrific,” Donskoi said. “Everybody was fired up, and I think we showed it.”

Fourteen different Avalanche players had a point, and by the third period, the Coyotes were ready to leave, but not without trying to send the Avalanche a message on the way out.

Late in a third period in which the Avs piled on three more goals, Coyotes forward Conor Garland and superstar Nathan MacKinnon got tangled up in the corner of the Arizona zone. In the tussle, MacKinnon threw Garland to the ice, ripping his helmet off in the process. An incensed Garland got up and confronted Gabriel Landeskog, and when he did, MacKinnon returned Garland’s helmet to him with an underhand toss to the noggin.

MacKinnon, the 2019-20 Lady Byng Trophy award winner for sportsmanship, earned a double-minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, ending his night.

Teams have been taking more and more liberties with the Avs as the season has gone along, hoping to rough up the speedy team, and MacKinnon had enough. That was just fine with Avalanche coach Jared Bednar.

“Nate is a competitive guy,” the head coach said after the game. “I don’t like seeing him get involved in every scrum, but every once in a while, he doesn’t have a choice, and that might have been the case there.”

As for any concern that MacKinnon might earn a suspension for the lobbed helmet, Bednar dismissed it with a not-so-subtle suggestion for the league’s central office.

“I would think that the misconduct would cover it,” Bednar added. “You see a few instances like that in the past. He might be a little bit lighter in the wallet, maybe, but I would think that would probably be it.”

The Avalanche finished March with 12 wins and 27 points. The former set a new Colorado record; the latter led the entire NHL.

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (23-8–4, 50 pts) vs. Blues (16-13-6, 38 pts) | Wednesday, Mar. 31 at 7:00 p.m. | TV: ESPN+

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TEAM NOTES

• The Avalanche signed 2019 first-round pick Alex Newhook, 20, to a three-year, entry-level contract. Newhook won the Tim Taylor Award as the NCAA’s rookie of the year as a freshman in 2019-20 at Boston College. Newhook, an excellent skater and skilled shooter, scored 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in only 12 games this season. Newhook will report to the AHL Colorado Eagles.

• Colorado set a new franchise record with their 12th win of the month, breaking a record that had stood since January of 2004. The Avs’ 27 points in March led the NHL.

• The Avalanche now have points in 12 straight games, going 10-0-2 in the process.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Joonas Donskoi’s hat trick, with all three goals completed over a 3:27 span in the first period, was the fastest in Avalanche history. The “natural” hat trick was Donskoi’s in only 7:31 played in the game; also the fastest in Avalanche history. Donskoi now has 15 goals on the season, good for second on the team behind only Mikko Rantanen’s 21.

• Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists on Wednesday, giving him 25 points in the month of March, 13 of them goals. Both of those numbers led the league last month.

• Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and an assist to rank him second in the NHL in points in March with 24, behind only teammate Mikko Rantanen. His 14 goals on the season are behind only Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi.

• Phillip Grubauer’s 22nd win leads the NHL. The workhorse goaltender’s 12 wins in March tied four other goalies for the NHL record for wins in a month. Coincidentally, three of the those goaltenders — Bernie Parent (1974), Ray Emery (2006) and Jimmy Howard (2010) — also won their dozen in the month of March.

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THE FINAL WORD

“We knew what kind of team we had, and I think we’ve shown it over the last five, six weeks.” — Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.

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INJURY WATCH

• Matt Calvert (undisclosed) missed the Mar. 31 game.
• Bowen Byram (concussion protocol) last played on Mar. 25 and is considered day-to-day. On Mar. 31, head coach Jared Bednar said that Byram may be ready by the first weekend of April.
• Conor Timmins (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 8 game and has not played since.
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury, COVID-19 protocol) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and has no projected return date. On March 25, coach Jared Bednar suggested that it was possible that Johnson could miss the remainder of the season.
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve. On March 25, coach Jared Bednar suggested that it was possible that Francouz could miss the remainder of the season.

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LAST NIGHT’S LINES

FORWARDS
Top Line: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Mikko Rantanen
Second Line: LW Brandon Saad, C Nazem Kadri, RW Andre Burakovsky
Third Line: LW Valeri Nichushkin, C Tyson Jost, RW Joonas Donskoi
Fourth Line: LW J.T. Compher, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Logan O’Connor

DEFENSEMEN
Top Pair: LD Devon Toews, RD Samuel Girard
Second Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Cale Makar
Third Pair: LD Dan Renouf, RD Jacob MacDonald

GOALTENDERS
Starter: Philipp Grubauer

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