LAS VEGAS — It was such a crazy Saturday night in Sin City, the Colorado Avalanche finally won a shootout. Nathan MacKinnon scored the deciding goal to give Colorado a 6-5 victory at T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights. It was the first shootout win in five tries this season for the le ague-leading Avs. More importantly, this Avalanche team hasn’t played in many back-and-forth chaotic games this season. But like every other test this club has faced, the Avs proved up to the task. Colorado clawed back from 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 deficits in what was easily the craziest contest of this campaign to date. “It wasn’t a perfect game from us, that’s for sure,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “But we kept fighting and guys played with a lot of heart. When you’re down against a good team twice by by two and you’re able to come out with a win, it feels good.” Colton Sissons got behind Martin Necas, who scored twice for Colorado, and was able to avoid a Scott Wedgewood pokecheck attempt to tuck a backhanded shot inside the left post with exactly four minutes left in the third period to give Vegas a 5-4 lead. It looked like a third regulation loss of the season was imminent. It was not. That is now seven straight wins for the Avs (28-2-7). There has been 10 streaks of seven wins or better in the league this season — Colorado has two of them and ended three others. MacKinnon found Artturi Lehkonen in the slot for a one-timer with 1:57 and the Avs found a 6-on-5 goal to even this one again at 5-5. It was MacKinnon’s third point of the third period. Sam Malinski had a career-high three assists in the win, while his defense partner Samuel Girard had a goal and an assist. “They were awesome,” MacKinnon said. “Making great plays, good poise. I think especially Malinski has been so good this season. Just feels like he’s getting better every week.” Vegas forged its second two-goal advantage of the night with scores on back-to-back shifts in the second period. A little more than a minute after Colorado had tied this contest at 2-2, Ben Hutton put the home team back in front with a one-timer from Alexander Holtz at 11:36 of the second. Brett Howden cut through the middle of the ice on a rush the next shift and was able to redirect Reilly Smith’s centering pass past Scott Wedgewood at 12:05. The Avs haven’t had to chase games in the third period often this year, but hunted down the Knights again, with the top line scoring twice in less than five minutes. MacKinnon set up Necas for a one-timer from the left circle at 3:52 of the third period to make it 4-3. It was Necas’ second of the game and 18th of the season. Colorado kept the push on and found a flurry of chances. Malinski’s shot from the right point dribbled through Vegas goaltender Carter Hart, and MacKinnon was there to sweep it over the goal line. That was MacKinnon’s league-leading 31st goal of the season. Alexander Holtz had the lone goal of the opening period to give Vegas the lead. Tomas Hertl won an offensive zone faceoff back to Noah Hanafin at the left point, and the defenseman hit Holtz cutting to the net near the right post for a redirection at 2:43 of the first. The Golden Knights quickly made it a 2-0 game in the second period. Devon Toews was unable to connect on MacKinnon’s cross-ice pass for a one-timer in the right circle. One he missed, Ivan Barbashev collected the puck, and the Avs were caught with four guys too deep in the offensive zone. Related Articles Like other Stanley Cup contenders, Golden Knights have had far worse injury luck than the Avalanche this season Who deserves more credit for the Avalanche’s historic start? There are many possible answers How Scott Wedgewood’s goalie pad color helped preserve shutout as Avs surge into holiday break As ECHL players strike looms, Avalanche’s Jared Bednar, Scott Wedgewood can relate to minor league experience Avalanche’s Brock Nelson makes strong closing argument for U.S. Olympic team Barbashev and Mitch Marner went the other way on a 2-on-1, and the latter made a great play to get a pass out of his skates and the puck back over to the former for a goal just 34 seconds into the middle period. This is only the fifth time in 37 games that Colorado has trailed by two goals in a contest. For the third time in those five games, the Avs were able to get back even at some point. Both of Colorado’s second-period tallies came on weird bounces. Girard tried to one-touch the puck to Lehkonen in the slot, but it went of Vegas defenseman Jeremy Lauzon’s stick and fluttered over Hart’s shoulder at 5:19 of the second. It was Girard’s third goal of the season, and his second straight tally for the Avs. Girard had the lone goal in a 1-0 win Tuesday against Utah in the final game before the break. Necas leveled the score midway through the second. Necas collected a pass from Malinski and turned to shoot from near the top of the right circle. His shot was going wide left, but it bounced off defenseman Kaeden Korczak and trickled past Hart. “Some games it just feels like it flows really well,” said Malinski, who is up to a career-best 21 points in just 37 games. “Pucks are popping out to good spots and we’re supporting each other well. But yeah, Sammy G just skates so well that it makes it easy on me a lot of the time.” FOOTNOTE: FBI director Kash Patel was outside the Colorado locker room after the game and spoke with a few of the Avalanche players. Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis. ...read more read less