Darcy Kuemper turned in one of his best performances since joining the Avalanche and recorded a second straight shutout in Colorado’s 2-0 road win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

“Looked square and calm and relaxed in the net tonight. Stayed upright,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

“You’ve got to make the perfect shot to beat him right now.”

Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog launched a brief celebration Wednesday with a shot that came impossibly close to counting. His bid went off the post, slid along the goal line, made contact with the skate of Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit (23 saves) and crawled back, but never across.

Later, Landeskog was the one to end the stalemate officially. About 40 seconds into the third period, defenseman Cale Makar collected Landeskog’s missed shot on goal. Makar returned the puck to the captain, who one-timed it over Brossoit’s shoulder.

Mikko Rantanen scored on a feed from Nathan MacKinnon with 4:15 to play. Makar picked up another assist.

Kuemper had turned in a series of mobile kick saves, including one on Jonathan Marchessault through traffic, to keep the game scoreless through two periods. He finished with 29 stops.

“(I) try not to worry about what’s going on on the other end,” Kuemper said. “We’ve got a lot of firepower and I’ve got a lot of faith in the guys that eventually we’re going to score.”

The big story Wednesday night was the beginning of Jack Eichel’s Vegas residency. Prior to the Avalanche game, Eichel hadn’t played since March 7. The center was traded to the Golden Knights from the Buffalo Sabres amid a swirl of injury talk on Nov. 4.

Eichel was once quoted as saying there was “a bit of a disconnect” between the Buffalo organization and himself in the wake of an in-game injury — a herniated disk in his neck. He was stripped of his captaincy in September after failing a physical, then dealt. Eichel, a Hobey Baker winner and the No. 2 overall pick in 2015, had artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck Nov. 12 at the Rocky Mountain Spine Clinic in Denver.

Eichel had 355 points in 375 games with the Sabres. He was a 20-goal scorer in each of his first five seasons.

“I think it’s exciting for the game in itself that he’s back and healthy,” Landeskog said Tuesday night. Colorado traveled to Vegas after a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Eichel interfered with Tyson Jost and was whistled for it 7:23 into the game. Eichel headed back to the penalty box 27 seconds into the second period for high-sticking Landeskog.

MacKinnon made high contact with Vegas’ Nolan Patrick 14 seconds into Patrick’s first shift. MacKinnon served a minor penalty for interference while Patrick headed down the tunnel. He didn’t return.

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