Avalanche win 10th straight, shut out Sharks 6-0

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DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his NHL-leading 18th goal, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 26 shots he faced and the red-hot Colorado Avalanche rolled past the San Jose Sharks 6-0 on Wednesday night for their 10th consecutive victory.

The Avalanche’s win streak is the longest by an NHL team this season and is tied for the second-longest in franchise history. They also extended their point streak to an NHL-high 14 games, with a 12-0-2 record in that time.

Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton, Sam Malinski, Josh Manson and Joel Kiviranta also scored for Colorado, which had three goals in 76 seconds in the second period to stretch its lead to 5-0.

The Avalanche recorded a shutout for the third-consecutive game, the first time they’ve done so since the 2001-02 season. They’ve gone 189 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal. It was the second shutout in as many starts for Blackwood, who had given up 10 goals in his previous three appearances this season.

MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Martin Necas were among the nine Colorado players with an assist. Makar’s assist was his 21st of the season, the second-most in the NHL.

The Sharks were the last team the Avalanche had failed to beat, losing 3-2 in overtime against San Jose on Nov. 1.

Yaroslav Askarov was pulled from the game in the second period after giving up four goals on 19 shots. Nine seconds later, his replacement, Alex Nedeljkovic, allowed a goal on the first shot he faced.

In the shutout loss, Macklin Celebrini’s five-game point streak was snapped.

Avalanche: At Minnesota on Friday.

Sharks: Host Vancouver on Friday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl