DENVER – Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Mikko Rantanen added a goal and an assist and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Monday night.
Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves and came within 1:16 of his third shutout this season. Colorado won for the 11th time in 12 home games and moved within two points of idle Calgary for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
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Daniel Sedin scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots for the Canucks.
Vancouver, which entered Monday 18 points out of a playoff spot, traded a couple of veterans before the NHL deadline.
The Canucks acquired forwards Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokinen from Columbus for Thomas Vanek and later sent defenceman Philip Holm to Vegas for forward Brendan Leipsic.
The Avalanche shipped Chris Bigras to the New York Rangers for 22-year-old Ryan Graves in a minor deal.
General manager Joe Sakic said he didn’t want to trade one of his young assets for a rental player even though Colorado is chasing a post-season berth. He also didn’t want to deal away a veteran and disrupt team chemistry with a chance at making the playoffs.
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