GLENDALE, Ariz. — A heavy center-ice hit on Nathan MacKinnon and an ensuing brouhaha led to the Avalanche losing its best player for the rest of the game Saturday, but Colorado immediately responded with three special-team goals to break open a scoreless game at Gila River Arena.
Minus MacKinnon — who was given a game-misconduct after fighting Josh Archibald to complete an intense sequence at 8:53 of the second period — the Avs defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 to improve to 5-2-1 since beginning the month 0-4.
On the heels of the big scrum that included a heavyweight fight between Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson and Coyotes forward Zac Rinaldo, the Avs scored a 4-on-4 goal (Carl Soderberg) and two 5-on-4 power-play tallies (J.