Nazem Kadri and Nathan MacKinnon each scored twice and rookie defenseman Cale Makar reached another franchise record before the All-Star break as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the visiting Detroit Red Wings 6-3 on Monday afternoon in Denver.

Matt Nieto and Ryan Graves also scored for the Avalanche (28-15-6), who won their third in a row. Goaltender Pavel Francouz made 22 saves.

Tyler Bertuzzi, Dylan Larkin and Givani Smith scored for the Red Wings (12-34-4), who dropped to 0-4-1 in their past five games, during which they've been outscored 25-8.

Goalie Jimmy Howard kept Detroit in the game for two periods before the Avalanche scored four times in the third. Howard, who stopped 40 of 45 shots, dropped to 0-13-2 in his past 15 games and hasn't won since Oct. 29.

Makar, one of the leading contenders for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year, had two assists to equal the franchise mark for most points by a first-year defenseman at 37, set by Bruce Bell of the Quebec Nordiques in 1984-85. In Colorado's previous game, Makar broke the team record for most goals by a rookie defender with his 11th of the season, one more than John-Michael Liles had in 2003-04.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period as Larkin stole the puck behind the Colorado net and fed a backhanded pass out front to Bertuzzi, who slammed it into the open side of the goal.

Colorado got on the board with Kadri's power-play goal at 1:02 of the second, as he deflected a shot from the point by Makar under Howard's catching glove.

The Avalanche took the lead less than two minutes later, Makar threading a cross-ice pass to MacKinnon at the far post at 2:56.

It remained 2-1 until the third, when Kadri and Nieto scored 53 seconds apart early in the period.

MacKinnon scored his 30th of the season with 1 minute remaining.

--Field Level Media