Wiesloch allgemein » CHICAGO (AP) It’s lucky No. 13

CHICAGO (AP) It’s lucky No. 13 for Nathan MacKinnon. Just one of several positive streaks for Colorado at the moment.MacKinnon had two assists Mika Zibanejad Jersey , extending his point streak to a career high-tying 13 games, and the Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 on Tuesday night.Alexander Kerfoot scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves as Colorado won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 8-1-3 in their last 12. Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Barrie each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Johnson added an empty-netter.The Avalanche (40-25-8) snapped a tie with Anaheim for the top spot in the Western Conference wild-card race and moved within two points of Minnesota for third place in the Central Division.”It’s crunch time and I think, not just myself, but everyone is playing really well,” said MacKinnon, who has 13 goals and 13 assists during his streak. ”We’re finding our gear and Varly has been really good, too. If you don’t have goaltending, you’re not going to win in this league, obviously. He’s been awesome.”Chicago (30-35-9) lost for the sixth time in seven games. Defenseman Brent Seabrook scored his fifth goal of the season for the Blackhawks, and Anton Forsberg made 35 stops in his first start since he was pulled in the first period of Thursday night’s 6-2 loss at Winnipeg.The last-place Blackhawks were eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. They had made the playoffs for nine straight seasons, winning three Stanley Cups.”We had a disappointing second half to the season, to say the least,” star forward Patrick Kane said. ”It seemed like a lot of the games throughout the year went the way they did tonight: We score first and give up one Womens Pavel Buchnevich Jersey , lose momentum and can’t regain it. Disappointing season? Yep.”Seabrook’s power-play goal put Chicago in front with 4:15 left in the first period, but Colorado responded with three in the second.With Andreas Martinsen in the box for slashing, a wide-open Kerfoot jumped on a rebound and beat Forsberg from the slot at 2:07. Kerfoot snapped a 14-game drought with his 16th of the season.The Avalanche then grabbed a 2-1 lead on their next shot. MacKinnon drew Forsberg over to one side of the net before playing it across to Rantanen for the easy one-timer at 5:01.”We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and our top line has been really hot,” Kerfoot said. ”We know we can score goals and obviously with Varly playing like that, we’re a tough team to beat.”Rantanen extended his point streak to seven games. The 21-year-old forward is tied with MacKinnon for most points in the NHL in March with 20 apiece.Rantanen and MacKinnon each picked up an assist when Barrie scored from the high slot on another power play, making it 3-1 at 12:40. Barrie extended his career-best point streak to 11 games, the longest run for an Avalanche defenseman since the franchise moved to Colorado.”Barrie’s been driving our offense from the back end for quite some time now,” coach Jared Bednar said.Chicago had three more power-play chances in the third, but came up empty each time. Johnson scored from the other end of the ice at 18:04, and Kerfoot made it 5-1 when he beat Forsberg with 57 seconds remaining.NOTES: Blackhawks C Matthew Highmore was scratched after he went hard into the boards during the second period of Sunday night’s loss to St. Louis. Martinsen was recalled on an emergency basis from the minors and put a big hit on Avalanche D Nikita Zadorov in the first period.UP NEXTAvalanche: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.—Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap— NEW YORK (AP) — Viktor Arvidsson and the Nashville Predators are happy to be headed home after sweeping a season-opening trip to New York.Arvidsson scored twice and the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Predators held on for a 4-3 victory Saturday night, spoiling the Islanders‘ home opener.“We got what we came here for and a great start for the season,” Arvidsson said. “Excited for the home opener (against Calgary on Tuesday night), come home to Nashville and play for our fans.”Mattias Ekholm and Craig Smith also scored, and P.K. Subban had two assists for the Predators Vladislav Namestnikov Jersey , who beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden in the season-opener Thursday night.“We did a great job coming off that first win,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “It’s never easy on a home opener and we had to face two of them so it’s good to get out here with the four points and go home.”Juuse Saros, starting in place of reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne, finished with 26 saves for the Predators.Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assisst, and Valtteri Filppula and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, who were trying to win new coach Barry Trotz’s home debut. Josh Bailey had two assists and Thomas Greiss stopped 19 shots.“We play like that, most nights we’ll be fine,” Lee said. “They just played a better game”Trotz led Washington to the Stanley Cup championship in June before leaving in a contract dispute. He was then hired as coach of the Islanders to replace the fired Doug Weight after New York missed the playoffs for the eighth time in 11 seasons. The Islanders opened the season with a victory in Trotz’s debut, 2-1 in overtime at Carolina on Thursday night.“We handled their speed well, our overall execution was good and we defended well,” Trotz said. “Overall, a good effort. We just didn’t get the result.”New York outshot Nashville 22-11 over the final two periods and had several chances at the tying goal in the third, but couldn’t beat Saros.“We have great goaltending on this team and they’re doing a great job back there,” Arvidsson said. “We’re trying to help them as much as we can. Sometimes they do amazing saves. It’s good to have them.”Trailing 2-1 after one period Bobby Ryan Jersey , the Islanders tied it early in the second. Tanner Fritz deflected a shot by Filppula that bounced off both posts, and Filppula tapped it in from in front of the goal line on the right side at 2:46.However, Smith put the Predators up 3-2 as he got a pass from Kyle Turris and fired it from between the circles off the post and in with 6 1/2 minutes left.Arvidsson got his second of the night with 3:18 to go in the middle period from the right side to make it 4-2.Lee, named the Islanders’ 15th captain in franchise history earlier in the week to replace the departed John Tavares, pulled New York within one with 29 seconds remaining in the second. Bailey’s pass deflected off Lee’s skate and then Saros’ pad before Lee knocked it in.Arvidsson got the Predators on the scoreboard first as he passed the puck to himself between his skates while he got around defenseman Ryan Pulock, skated in and beat Greiss for his first 3:42 into the game.“I thought I had (Roman Josi) on a 2-on-1 like last game but he was cutting behind me,” Arvidsson said. “So I figured I’d try to catch him (Pulock) standing still … and managed to do that and nice to see it go in.”New York then tied it on a goal awarded after a video review with just under 8 minutes left in the opening period. Josh Bailey stripped the puck from Subban behind the net, sent it out in front to Barzal at the right side and the reigning Calder Trophy winner as the league’s top rookie put it between Saros’ legs. The goalie appeared to smother the puck with his pads, but the review showed his pad was across the goal line.Ekholm regained the lead for Nashville as he beat Greiss from the top of the left circle with 3:04 left.NOTES: Turris has 11 assists and 15 points in 20 games against the Islanders. … The Islanders and Predators conclude the two-game season series Oct. 13 at Nashville. … Islanders C Brock Nelson played in his 400th game. … Filppula, in his first season in New York and 14th in the NHL, has 10 goals and 27 points in 50 games against te Predators. … Trotz was Nashville head coach for the franchise’s first 15 seasons and holds the franchise records for games coached (1,196) and wins (557) — putting him third all-time in NHL history in both categories with one franchise.UP NEXTPredators: Host Calgary in their home opener on Tuesday night.Islanders: Host San Jose on Monday.