DENVER (AP) Nathan MacKinnon dropped the gloves to stick up for a teammate who took a big check.Admirable Connor Brown Jersey , his coach said. Understandable, too.”But I would advise him not to be doing that the rest of the year,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of the team’s top scorer. ”He’s such a big part of our club that there’s too much at risk there.”No harm done.Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg each had a goal and an assist in a first-period burst, goaltender Jonathan Bernier won his ninth straight home game but left in the third period with a sore neck and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 on Saturday.The speedy MacKinnon fired up the crowd – and his teammates – in the first period when he went after Arizona’s Jordan Martinook, who knocked Mikko Rantanen to the ice with a hit.”I just saw Mikko get crushed and I just reacted,” explained MacKinnon, who along with Martinook drew a penalty for fighting.This advice from his coach: Be careful.”He’s a competitive guy, a highly competitive guy and he didn’t like what he saw so he does that,” Bednar said. ”You’re just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.”His actions drew a measure of respect from Martinook.”He’s not just a good player – he sticks up for his teammates,” Martinook said.Colorado got off to a flying start as Colorado had three goals in the opening 4:22 to take a 3-1 advantage. The Avalanche rode the torrid start to another win at the Pepsi Center, where they’ve gone 14-1-1 since Dec. 29.Tyson Jost and Rantanen scored in the third to seal the win and help Colorado snap a streak of three straight overtime losses. The team remains in the thick of the playoff chase a season after finishing last in the league.But this was cause for alarm: Bernier was replaced by Semyon Varlamov midway through the third. It stemmed from Bernier taking a shot flush in the mask during the second period. He’s been out with a concussion since leaving the game on Feb. 16 at Winnipeg.”Kind of rung his bell a little bit there Frederik Andersen Jersey ,” Bednar explained. ”Whether he got a headache or anything like that, I don’t know.”Still, Bernier stopped 22 shots to record the victory and match the longest home win streak in franchise history, which was set by Dan Bouchard in 1983-84 when the team was in Quebec.Varlamov turned back four shots in relief.Christian Dvorak and Richard Panik added goals for Arizona, a surging team that’s gone 9-3-2 in over its last 14 games.Panik’s goal late in the second period cut the score to 3-2. The Coyotes were caught with too many men on the ice in the third and Jost batted in a puck for a power-play goal. Just 1:55 later, Rantanen added another to make it 5-2.Things turned testy soon after, with Sven Andrighetto and Oliver Ekman-Larsson pushing each other and several others joining in. Brendan Perlini and Nikita Zadorov were given 10-minute misconduct penalties.Ekman-Larsson, who was whistled for a double-minor for slashing and cross-checking on the play, was later fined $5,000 – the maximum under the collective bargaining agreement – for slashing Andrighetto.”For the most part, we had some guys that really hustled and worked hard Womens Jake Gardiner Jersey ,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. ”We had three or four or five guys passengers tonight. We don’t have the team to have passengers.”NOTES: Tocchet had no update on Arizona F Derek Stepan after he limped off the ice in the third period after blocking a shot by Zadorov. Earlier in the period, F Laurent Dauphin was hit in the left knee by a Zadorov shot. … Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots with starter Antti Raanta scratched due to a lower-body injury. … MacKinnon had two assists to increase his league lead in home scoring to 59 points. … According to the Avs, the combined four goals in the opening 4:22 were the fastest four goals to begin an NHL game since Feb. 26, 1997, when Philadelphia beat Ottawa 8-5. …UP NEXTCoyotes: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.Avalanche: Begin a two-game trip Tuesday in Minnesota. DALLAS (AP) Craig Anderson was in good spirits after Erik Karlsson’s goal 2:19 into overtime lifted the Ottawa Senators over the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime on Monday night.Anderson, who made 31 saves, spoke tongue-in-cheek about 3-on-3 play in OT and even threw in a Scandinavian pun.”I think 3-on-3 is one of our strong suits. Maybe we should try to take coinciding penalties throughout the game and get 3-on-3 going in the regular game.”(Karlsson) has the breakaway speed, finds a way to finish even though he’s Swedish.”Dallas appeared to have a chance to score the winning goal, but Devin Shore couldn’t get to John Klingberg’s pass in front of an open net. The puck went back to the blue line, where Karlsson beat Tyler Pitlick to the puck and skated in to beat goalie Kari Lehtonen.Stars goalie Ben Bishop left because of a lower-body injury after making 12 saves in the first period. Lehtonen replaced Bishop and had 15 saves. Bishop is expected to miss at least two games.”Tonight Erik was outstanding and our goalie was outstanding,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said. ”That’s what you get when the two most important players on the team are at their best http://www.officialmapleleafsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-van-riemsdyk-jersey , that’s when we’re at our best.”Boucher was happy that his team finished 2-2 on a week-long road trip.The Stars have tied the score in the final three minutes of regulation in the last three games but won only one in overtime. They could have extended their lead for the first wild card in the Western Conference to more than three points over Los Angeles.Dallas’ Tyler Seguin scored twice, on the power play in the first period and from the top of the right faceoff circle with 1:02 left in the third period to tie it.”We shouldn’t be waiting for the last two, three minutes to start going,” Seguin said. ”That’s a point that should never have not been ours.”I think we played that team like where they are in the standings (seventh in the Atlantic Division). I think we forgot that we’re still in the NHL and every team’s good with the parity in this league.”Goals by Mike Hoffman on the power play in the second period and Matt Duchene in the third gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead before Seguin tied it with his 36th goal of the season.Seguin first scored from the left of the net on a narrow angle. His shot went in off Ottawa defenseman Ben Harpur’s skate.Play was stopped with 11:05 left in the first period after Bishop and Dallas defenseman Dan Hamhuis fell in a heap in front of the goal. A trainer attended to Bishop, who stayed in the game but didn’t return for the second period.”We picked up some more injuries and we’ve got to move along quick,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said.Dallas will be without Bishop, defenseman Esa Lindell (who missed his first game this season) and checking-line center Radek Faksa for Tuesday’s game at Central Division-leading Nashville.Ottawa cashed in on its second power play of the second period just two seconds before the period ended.Mark Stone passed from the left faceoff circle across to Hoffman below the edge of the right circle. His shot went off the sprawling Lehtonen’s upper left arm and into the net.NOTES: Duchene has 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 35 career games vs. Dallas. … In the last six games, Seguin has seven goals and four assists. … Ottawa RW Marian Gaborik returned after missing two games with an undisclosed injury. … The Senators had killed 13 of 14 penalties in the previous six games. Dallas had been 17 for 18 over five-plus games.UP NEXTSenators: Return home to meet Buffalo on Thursday.Stars: Play at Nashville on Tuesday. The Predators have won eight straight.—