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MacK nets NHL 3rd star of week |
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Rick Sadowski
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Nathan MacKinnon played a major role when the Avalanche won two of their past three games and on Monday was named the NHL's third star for the week that ended Sunday.
The 22-year-old center had a career-high five points (one goal, four assists) on Thursday in the Avalanche's 6-2 win against Washington, and on Sunday scored in overtime in a 4-3 come-from-behind win in Detroit after setting up Carl Soderberg's tying goal with 45.2 seconds left in regulation.
MacKinnon took a shot that caromed off Soderberg and bounced by Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard before scoring 2:55 into the extra period on a 2-on-1 rush.
The overtime goal was the third of MacKinnon's NHL career and his second game winner this season.
Carolina's Teuvo Teravainen (5-5-10, four games) was named the first star. Toronto's Frederik Anderson (two shutouts in two games, 75 saves) was named the second star,
MacKinnon has been on a hot streak with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in the past nine games, with six multiple-point games in this stretch.
He has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) and a plus-1 rating in 19 games overall, helping the Avalanche to a 10-8-1 record.
His five points against the Capitals were the most by an Avalanche player since Milan Hejduk had six and Paul Stastny five on Dec. 9, 2007 in a 9-5 win against St. Louis.
Surprisingly, this is MacKinnon's first league star of the week in his five NHL seasons, the Avalanche's first since goalie Semyon Varlamov was named first star for Jan. 18-26, 2016.
The Avalanche didn't practice Monday. They'll be on the ice Tuesday at Family Sports Center and play Dallas at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday.