DENVER — Colorado’s power play and Nathan MacKinnon’s finishing touch set the opening-night pace at Ball Arena, where the Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 8-4 on Wednesday. MacKinnon scored twice, Artturi Lehkonen added two more, and Colorado never let the Kings’ short-handed push turn into a real comeback.
Key takeaways
- MacKinnon struck once on a 5-on-3 and added an even-strength goal in the second period.
- Lehkonen scored twice, including Colorado’s final goal with the man advantage.
- Brock Nelson recorded a goal and two assists, while Parker Kelly finished with a goal and an assist.
- Los Angeles scored two short-handed goals, from Joel Armia and Trevor Moore, in Peter Laviolette’s first game behind the Kings bench.
- Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26 shots for Colorado; Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for Los Angeles.
Colorado builds its edge in the special-teams battle
Nelson opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period on a Colorado power play. Jaden Schwartz sent a saucer pass through the crease for Lehkonen, but the puck skipped past its intended target and settled for Nelson. His shot clipped the left post, hit Kuemper and crossed the line.
Brian Dumoulin pulled Los Angeles even at 15:14, firing from the top of the left circle through traffic created by Alex Turcotte. Colorado restored its lead late in the period when Kelly intercepted a clearing try along the wall, joined Fedor Svechkov on a 2-on-1 and snapped a shot home from the right circle. The goal came three seconds after the Kings had killed off a penalty.
MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead only 23 seconds into the middle frame. With Colorado holding a two-man advantage, he hammered Nazem Kadri’s cross-slot feed from the left circle past Kuemper.
The Kings answered while still short-handed. At 1:28, Armia worked into the high slot and beat Blackwood under the glove to trim the margin to one. MacKinnon answered again at 8:33, taking Martin Necas’ drop pass inside the left circle and lifting a far-side shot over Kuemper’s glove.
Nicolas Roy made it 5-2 at 16:01, knocking a loose puck over Kuemper after a crease scramble left the goaltender down on the ice. Moore then gave the Kings their second short-handed goal of the night. After tracking an airborne tipped puck along the right boards, Moore broke in with Scott Laughton on a 2-on-1 and scored from the right circle off Blackwood’s left shoulder at 17:50.
Colorado’s response took just 44 seconds. Nelson fed Lehkonen in the high slot, and Lehkonen converted the one-timer during the same power play for a 6-3 lead.
Late Kings push falls short
Los Angeles cut into the deficit one final time at 11:51 of the third. On a delayed penalty, Artemi Panarin came off the bench as the extra attacker, accepted Drew Doughty’s pass at the blue line and drove toward the middle before beating Blackwood over the blocker.
The Avalanche put the game away at 14:03. Cale Makar’s attempt on a 3-on-2 missed the net, but the puck rebounded off the end boards to Gabriel Landeskog at the left post. Landeskog’s finish deflected in off Kings forward Quinton Byfield for a 7-4 cushion.
Lehkonen completed the eight-goal night with another power-play marker at 15:06. Schwartz, Kadri, Makar and Devon Toews each supplied two assists in the opener, while Alex Laferriere had two assists for the Kings.
Colorado begins the season with a statement offensive performance, while Los Angeles leaves Denver having generated dangerous short-handed chances but unable to contain an Avalanche power play that delivered at key moments.
