Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen had two goals each, Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves and the Colorado Avalanche used a four-goal second period to beat the Los Angeles Kings 8-4 in Denver on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Brock Nelson collected a goal and two assists, Parker Kelly added a goal and assist and Nicolas Roy and Gabriel Landeskog also scored to help Colorado coach Jared Bednar celebrate his four-year contract extension.
Bednar was entering the final year of his existing contract when the deal was announced Wednesday morning.
Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Jaden Schwartz and Devon Toews had two assists each.
Landeskog scored in the third period, less than a minute after MacKinnon dropped the gloves for a rare fight by the superstar center.
Artemi Panarin, Trevor Moore, Joel Armia and Brian Dumoulin scored while Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings. Los Angeles’ Alex Laferriere added two assists.
Colorado went ahead 1-0 on a power play early in the first with Nelson’s goal off the first of Schwartz’s assists. Dumoulin tied it at 15:14 of the first with a shot from the top of the left circle, and the Kings had a chance to get another on the power play.
Josh Manson chipped the puck along the boards to Kelly, who carried it into the Los Angeles zone on an odd-man rush and beat Kuemper at 17:58 of the opening frame.
Los Angeles took penalties 40 seconds apart late in the first. MacKinnon scored on the two-man advantage 23 seconds into the second period, but Armia answered 1:05 later to cut the Kings’ deficit to 3-2.
MacKinnon made it a two-score game with his second goal at 8:33, and the teams combined for three goals in the final 3:59 of the middle period.
Roy made it 5-2 when he scored while Schwartz was face down in the crease. Moore produced a short-handed goal at 17:50, but Lehkonen answered on the same power play 44 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead.
Panarin cut Los Angeles’ deficit to 6-4 at 11:51 of the third, but Landeskog and Lehkonen scored 1:03 apart, the latter on a power play, to cap the scoring.
–Field Level Media
