Cale Makar, Scott Wedgewood lead Avalanche to impressive 5-1 win in Anaheim

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on Mar 4, 2026

Published in Hockey

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ANAHEIM — This Colorado Avalanche team still has the juice.

Playing for the second consecutive night and fifth time in seven days, the Avs traveled down I-5 and completed a sweep of the Southern California teams with an impressive 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center.

Cale Makar had three points, Parker Kelly scored twice, Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves and Nathan MacKinnon reached the century mark in the victory. The Avs, who limped into the 2026 Winter Olympics break with six wins in 15 games (6-7-2) just went 4-1 during the most grueling stretch of their schedule this year.

The Ducks had won 12 of 14 games to climb into second place in the Pacific Division. They were on normal rest. The Avs rolled anyway.

Colorado had three road games against teams either in a playoff spot or fighting for one. The Avs won all three.

This was the last game before the 2026 trade deadline, which is Friday afternoon — a few hours before the league-leading Avs will face second-place Dallas in North Texas. Both teams could look different by then.

Makar gave the Avs the lead with his 18th goal of the season at 11:33 of the opening period. Brock Nelson made a slick pass to get Makar free in the right circle. His attempted centering pass as he skated towards the net didn’t pan out, but he swooped around the cage, picked up the puck again and then froze Ryan Pehling with a juke move before snapping a shot past Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal.

Martin Necas made it a two-goal advantage less than three minutes later. MacKinnon drew a tripping penalty, and the Avs’ top power-play unit made it count. Nelson sent a diagonal pass from near the right corner out to Necas at the top of the left circle, and he hammered a one-timer off the crossbar and in behind Dostal, his Czechia Olympic teammate, at 14:05 of the first.

That’s 27 goals for Necas this season in 57 games, which matches his total from last year and is one shy of his career-best effort in 2022-23. He’s also on pace for 99 points, which would blow past his career high of 83, which he set in 2023-24.

Cutter Gauthier cut Colorado’s lead in half at 4:50 of the second period. The Ducks thought they scored at 2:30, but a goal was wiped off the board because Chris Kreider had collided with Wedgewood’s arm/shoulder at the top of the crease just before the puck went in. The goal was waived off and Kreider went to the box for goaltender interference.

The ensuing power play did not go well for the visitors, and then Gauthier fired home a one-timer from Jackson Lacombe 20 seconds after the penalty expired.

Parker Kelly’s career year kept rolling late in the middle period. Makar fed him the puck at the top of the left circle, and Kelly wired a long-distance wrist shot past Dostal at 15:03.

That was No. 14 for Kelly. He added No. 15 in the third period to make it a 5-1 advantage. Kelly’s career-best output before this season was eight goals, each of the previous two seasons.

Captain Gabe Landeskog scored for the second straight night to make it a three-goal lead at 4:35 of the third period. MacKinnon carried the puck into the offensive zone on a rush, and Landeskog blasted a one-timer past Dostal.

That assist was the 100th point of the season for MacKinnon. It’s his fourth straight 100-point campaign. He’s currently on pace for 137, just shy of the 140 he had in his MVP season two years ago.

This was Makar’s fifth game with three or more points this season, but his first since Jan. 8. He’s got three goals and six points during this three-game streak and has had dominant underlying numbers. He’s got some work to do down the stretch if he’s going to win the Norris Trophy for the third time in his career.

FOOTNOTE: Avs forward Artturi Lehkonen (upper body) is out week-to-week, a team spokesman said before the game. Lehkonen left the game Monday night in the first period in Los Angeles.

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