Colorado beats Calgary 2-1 in clash of West division leaders

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin scored two power-play goals and Darcy Keumper stopped 44 shots as the Colorado Avalanche edged the Calgary Flames 2-1 Tuesday night in a matchup of Western Conference division leaders.

“Gutsy win by our group,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought our team was highly committed on the defensive side of things.

“Power play steps up at the end gets us a big win.”

Central Division-leading Colorado (47-14-6) won the season series 2-1. The Avalanche did so without Nathan MacKinnon (lower body), their leading scorer who was hurt in a third-period fight with Minnesota’s Matt Dumba on Sunday.

Nazem Kadri took MacKinnon’s spot on the Avs’ top line with Nichuskin and Mikko Rantanen. After going winless in his two previous starts, Kuemper improved to 31-9-3.

“Definitely a credit to the depth of the team,” Kuemper said. “The willingness and ability for guys to step up their game and make up for the guys that are missing.”

Tyler Toffoli scored for Pacific Division-leading Calgary (40-18-8). Jacob Markstrom (31-13-7) stopped 28 shots. The Flames are 2-2-0 on a six-game homestand that continues Thursday against Los Angeles. The Kings are second in the Pacific, seven points behind the Flames.

With the score tied 1-1, Colorado capitalized on a tripping penalty to Elias Lindholm halfway through the third period. Mikko Rantanen spotted Nichushkin in front and sent a perfect pass across the slot that Nichushkin steered behind Markstrom.

Colorado’s power play has been lethal of late. The unit converted 2 of 3 chances and moved to 15 for 36 over the Avalanche’s last 12 games (41.7%).

“Power play, we need them to step up,” Bednar said. “It’s going to be tight.

“That’s how it works down the stretch and into the playoffs. It’s hard to find space and create scoring chances 5 on 5 and when you get one or two (power plays), you’ve got to try to capitalize on them.”

Calgary’s penalty kill struggled for…