Jake DeBrusk tied the game 4-4 with a power-play deflection at 16:59 of the third period for Vancouver but Gavin Brindley scored the winning goal 1:08 into overtime, chipping his own rebound between the legs of goalie Kevin Lankinen as he reached out to cover the puck.
MacKinnon started the winning play in overtime and was on the Colorado bench when he got his fifth point. The forward had two goals and two assists on in a 9-1 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
MacKinnon has 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) during a nine-game point streak and leads the NHL in goals (14) and points (29) for the League-leading Avalanche (10-1-5).
Artturi Lehkonen scored twice in the third period, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves in his second start of the season for the Avalanche, who have won three in a row and have points in seven straight games (5-0-2).
Linus Karlsson scored his first goal of the season and Kiefer Sherwood scored his team-leading 10th for the Canucks (8-8-1), who have alternated wins and losses for nine straight (4-4-1).
Lankinen made 28 saves while starting on consecutive nights while No.1 goalie Thatcher Demko did not dress for a second straight game after missing practice Friday for preventative maintenance. Demko skated on his own Saturday and Sunday and could return against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
MacKinnon put Colorado ahead 1-0 at 6:41 of the first period on a rush started by defenseman Cale Makar behind his own net. Makar skated all the way to the right outside hashmark before passing between a pair of defenders to the slot for Nichushkin, whose quick pass to the bottom of the left circle stranded Lankinen and left MacKinnon with an open net.
MacKinnon made it 2-0 with a power-play wrist shot while cutting into the slot at 8:10, giving him 381 career goals and passing Peter Stastny for third place on the franchise’s all-time list.
Karlsson pulled the Canucks to 2-1 with a between-the-legs goal from below the goal line at 11:47. After Blackwood dove across with his stick to stuff the first rebound try, Karlsson put the puck between his legs to get it above the goal line before lifting a shot over the prone goalie.
Vancouver tied it 2-2 at 1:44 of the second period after Martin Necas lost the puck along the boards and it bounced to Sherwood alone atop the crease for a quick backhand under Blackwood’s pads.
Lehkonen scored 28 seconds into the third period by redirecting a Brent Burns pass from the top of the right face-off circle to the high slot past a stranded Lankinen to make it 3-2.
Drew O’Connor scored on a short-handed rush at 7:26 to tie it 3-3, snapping a rolling puck far side over the glove of Blackwood from the left face-off dot.
But Lehkonen converted a rebound on another power play at 9:47 to make it 4-3, firing into an empty net after Lankinen made a good save off a Necas one-timer from MacKinnon.
