Maybe the Avalanche just needed some trade talk to start winning games.

Probably coincidence, but the Avalanche put together their three-game winning streak -- matching last season's longest streak -- after Matt Duchene's name began circulating in rumors following poor starts by him and the team.

Rumors, speculation, imagination ... Duchene understands this is part of the business, especially when things aren't going well. Things should quiet down now that he and the Avalanche are playing so much better.

Duchene scored another goal -- he and Nathan MacKinnon are tied for the team lead with eight each -- and added two assists Saturday in the Avalanche's 6-1 win in Montreal. Duchene has four goals and four assists in the first three games of the trip, with seven goals and four assists in the past six games.

Duchene on Monday was named the NHL's first star for games ending last week. The Rangers' Mats Zuccarello was the second star and Maple Leafs' James Reimer third star.

"It's part of hockey," Duchene told the Denver Post, referring to recent trade talk. "I'm not thinking about it too much. I'm an Av today and I want to be an Av as long as possible. At the same time, it's a business and I understand that part of it. That's my standpoint. I'm just focusing on my game."

Avalanche executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic told the Post: "We're out to a tough start and you're always listening. When you're talking, people bring up names. That's how deals happen."

*****

The Mikhail Grigorenko-MacKinnon-Duchene line combined for four goals, five assists, six shots and a plus-9 rating against the Canadiens. Grigorenko was moved to the line as a replacement for Gabriel Landeskog, who served the first game of his two-game suspension Saturday. Grigorenko scored his first goal of the season and had two assists.

MacKinnon scored twice in 13 seconds and had an assist, giving him six goals and seven assists in the past 11 games ... Blake Comeau had a shorthanded goal, his first goal in an Avalanche uniform, to reach the 200-point mark in his 500th NHL game ... Defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Erik Johnson were each plus-4.

Goalie Reto Berra continued his resurgence with 39 saves, 18 in the first period. He's stopped 89 of 92 shots (.967 save percentage) in the first three games of the trip and improved his record to 4-3-0. He leads the NHL in goals-against average (1.50) and save percentage (.953).

*****

The Avalanche on Sunday announced they claimed center Chris Wagner off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks and placed goalie Semyon Varlamov (groin) on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 10. Wagner was to join the team in Toronto where the Avalanche play Tuesday.

Wagner, 24, was born in Walpole, Mass., and is 6-feet, 195 pounds. He spends plenty of time in penalty boxes. He had no points and 17 penalty minutes in 11 games with the Ducks this season, and has no points and 19 penalty minutes in 20 career NHL games. Wagner played in two playoff games last season. He had one goal, one assist and 16 penalty minutes in three games this season with San Diego of the AHL.

Wagner has won 53.4 percent of his faceoffs this year and was second on the Ducks in hits with 32.

Wagner was the Ducks' fifth-round pick (No. 122) in the 2010 NHL draft. He played two years at Colgate University and three seasons with Norfolk of the AHL where he had 37 goals, 40 assists and 198 penalty minutes in 194 games.



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