Valeri Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen power Avalanche past Golden Knights

The past two Stanley Cup champions are both missing key players but remain near the top of the NHL standings. When they met Wednesday night at Ball Arena, one certainly looked ready to make another deep playoff run. Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of power play goals and the Colorado Avalanche cruised past the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3 0 victory that did not look as close as the scoreboard indicated.

Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves, and all of Colorado’s top offensive players had a strong night against the defending champions. Vegas crushed Colorado in the first meeting between the clubs, but this was a very different game. The Avs have now won 11 of 15 games in the past month (11 3 1) and the past two — this one and a 4 3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins — were arguably the most impressive.

Nichushkin gave the Avs the lead with 13.8 seconds left in the first period. He drew a penalty 10 seconds before the goal, then scored on a one timer from Mikko Rantanen in front of the Vegas net. Colorado’s second goal looked a lot like the first, with a little more panache. All five members of the top power play unit touched the puck in rapid succession.

Jonathan Drouin set up Nathan MacKinnon with a cross ice pass for a one timer. After MacKinnon’s shot hit the side of the net, Rantanen backhanded a between the legs pass to Nichushkin, who was waiting in the same spot for another one timer. With two more power play goals, Nichushkin is second in the league with 13, one behind Florida’s Sam Reinhart.

Eighteen of Nichushkin’s 22 goals have come in the high danger area in front of the opposing goal crease, according to NHL Edge. Nichushkin now has 22 goals this season, which is tied for the team lead with MacKinnon and three shy of his career high. The two are tied for eighth in the NHL, while Rantanen is one behind them.

The Avs remain the only team in the league with three 20 plus goal scorers. MacKinnon tied Joe Sakic’s franchise record by scoring at least one point in 23 consecutive home games. He has at least a point in every home game this season, and it’s now tied for the third longest streak in NHL history.

This wasn’t a fully healthy Golden Knights team. Vegas is currently without defenseman Shea Theodore, forward William Karlsson and both of its top two goaltenders. The Golden Knights had to turn to No. 3 goalie Jiri Patera, and he was the biggest reason why Colorado did not turn this into a rout in the second period.

Colorado played a second straight game without both of its second pairing defensemen (Bowen Byram and Josh Manson), and remained short two top nine forwards (Artturi Lehkonen and Miles Wood). Manson and Wood should be back soon, while Lehkonen has progressed to taking contact in practice and will join the Avs on this upcoming five game road trip.

: Isaiah Saville was a late addition to Vegas’ lineup as the backup goalie..