Avalanche score eight in season-opening win against Kings
MacKinnon, Lehkonen each gets two goals, Nelson has three points for Colorado
By Ryan Boulding
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals for the Colorado Avalanche in an 8-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on Wednesday.
It was the season opener for each team.
“It was great. I mean, it wasn't a perfect game, but entertaining. We played hard,” MacKinnon said. “We got some stuff to clean up, but you score eight, you're probably going to win. So, we'll take it.”
Artturi Lehkonen also scored twice, Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists, and Parker Kelly had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. Jaden Schwartz, Nazem Kadri, Cale Makar and Devon Toews each had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves.
“Lots to like, lots to work on, and I think most of it's just building the habits,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “The rush coverage? Woof. It was rough. Guys just still a little bit in shinny mode, not enough talk, but all fixable. All fixable.
“On the offensive side of it, I liked some of the things we did. Obviously, special teams were a huge part of the game tonight for us, and we got off to a good start there. And both units looked dangerous at times, so yeah, again, lots to like and lots to work on.”
Joel Armia and Trevor Moore each scored a short-handed goal for the Kings, who were playing their first game under coach Peter Laviolette. Alex Laferriere had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves.
“I felt like a lot of the things that we gave them tonight were, they're our responsibility,” Laviolette said. “They are things that can be in our control: staying out of the penalty box, the execution of what we're doing, staying behind the rush. We got chances to score offensively and we didn't connect on them, so we found ourselves chasing the game most of the night.”
Nelson scored a power-play goal to give Colorado a 1-0 lead at 6:33 of the first period. Schwartz’s cross-crease saucer pass couldn't be swatted in by Lehkonen, but the puck landed on the stick of Nelson, who scored with a shot that hit off the left post and the back of Kuemper before going in.
“They've been great. They've been working together in training camp, and they've looked great,” Bednar said of that power-play unit. “I thought they did a fantastic job. Honestly, it looks just like it did in practice. Those guys have been executing at a high level and they're all on the same page, and they looked great.”
Brian Dumoulin tied it 1-1 at 15:14 with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that went glove side through a screen by Alex Turcotte.
Kelly put Colorado back in front 2-1 at 17:58. He recovered a clearing attempt up the boards from Josh Manson, skated in on a 2-on-1 with Fedor Svechkov, and buried a wrist shot from the right circle three seconds after a power play expired for the Kings.
MacKinnon extended the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal 23 seconds into the second period. He one-timed Kadri’s cross-slot pass short side from the left circle while on a 5-on-3.
“Obviously, the other unit really carried it tonight. Our unit's got to get on the same page a little bit,” MacKinnon said. “I think guys are a little stuck kind of positionally, but luckily we have really good players on this team and they picked us up tonight. So, really fortunate for that.”
On the ensuing 5-on-4 power play, Armia was able to cut the lead to 3-2 with a short-handed goal at 1:28. He skated into the high slot and beat Blackwood under his glove with a wrist shot.
“I think that's a really tough one to assess. I think we took a little step back from maybe the last preseason game,” Kings forward Erik Haula said. “I think we took a step forward offensively. It's just, against that team and when you take that many penalties and make mistakes like that, they can really make you pay. And they sure did today. But offensively, on the road when you score four goals, you like your chances most nights.”
MacKinnon scored his second of the period to make it 4-2 at 8:33. Martin Necas dropped him a pass inside the left circle, and he roofed it far side over Kuemper's glove.
Nicolas Roy pushed the lead to 5-2 at 16:01, chipping a loose puck over Kuemper, who was sprawled on the ice following a scramble in the crease.
Moore closed the gap to 5-3 with another short-handed goal at 17:50. He located a tipped puck that went airborne at the right wall, skated it down on a 2-on-1 with Scott Laughton, and scored off the left shoulder of Blackwood from the right circle.
Lehkonen scored during the same power play to make it 6-3 at 18:34. He one-timed a centering pass from Nelson in the slot.
“Just like how we stuck with it. It felt like, obviously, we got out to a good lead, and we were able to keep building off that,” Makar said. “Weird that we obviously gave up a couple on the power play there, but we found a way to capitalize a couple more on our power play. So trade off, but that can't happen.”
Artemi Panarin got the Kings to within 6-4 at 11:51 of the third period. He came off the bench as the extra attacker during a delayed penalty, took a pass from Drew Doughty at the blue line, and cut toward the middle before scoring over the blocker of Blackwood, who never went down.
Gabriel Landeskog made it 7-4 at 14:03. Makar’s initial attempt on a 3-on-2 rush went wide of the net, but the rebound caromed off the end wall to Landeskog, who scored off skate of Kings forward Quinton Byfield at the left post.
Lehkonen scored another power-play goal at 15:06 for the 8-4 final.
“It's hard to break it all down right now, but again, we get a day to look at everything, figure out what maybe to fix or what we need to work on more,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. "But I thought there were some positives throughout the game. I thought there were some good chances off the rush or from breakouts all the way through. Some O-zone plays were good. Again, just too many breakdowns.”
NOTES: The Avalanche scored eight goals in a season opener for the first time in franchise history. … Makar became the first defenseman in NHL history to get multiple points in five straight season openers. … The Kings scored two short-handed goals on the road for just the second time in the past 14 years (at the Florida Panthers on Jan. 27, 2023).
