DENVER – Nathan MacKinnon finished his first career playoff hat trick with an empty-net goal to help the Colorado Avalanche pull away late for a 6-3 win over St.
Louis in Game 2 on Wednesday night after the Blues avoided a pregame virus scare that nearly sidelined several players. Joonas Donskoi scored twice and Brandon Saad added an empty-netter as Colorado took a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Since moving to Denver, Colorado is 13-1 all-time in best-of-seven postseason series when capturing the first two games. Trailing 3-0, Sammy Blais scored for St.
Louis in the second and Brayden Schenn added another with 9:53 remaining to make it a one-goal game. Schenn's power-play goal followed Nazem Kadri being assessed a five-minute