Sporting a lineup with six new forwards and a healthy blueline, the Avalanche relied on their star power and a strong, scrappy penalty-killing unit to come away with a season-opening 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday.
The Avs led 3-0 before giving up two goals — the second with five seconds remaining in the middle frame to set up a one-goal game heading into the final 20 minutes.
Already 3-for-3 on the PK, Colorado held its own in the third period to secure the win. Defenseman Bowen Byram was called for cross-checking at 2:25. After successfully killing that penalty, forward Mikko Rantanen put home his second of the game just 34 seconds later to make it 4-2. Byram was then called for boarding on the following play, and the Avs once again were successful on the PK.
Mikko Rantanen's redirect evades Talbot for his second goal of the game!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/CAmlZucOdR
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) October 12, 2023
Colorado finished a perfect 5-for-5 a man short — giving the Kings zero goals in 10 full minutes of power-play time. The Avs scored once on the man advantage.
Offensively, it was the Avalanche’s top stars that led the charge. Rantanen had two goals and two assists — his second consecutive four-point effort in a season opener. The other pieces of the Avs’ three-headed monster, Nathan MacKinnon (goal, two assists) and Makar (goal, assist) also had multi-point efforts.
Key Takeaways
- Miles Wood added an empty netter, assisted by linemates Ross Colton and Tomas Tatar
- Jonathan Drouin also had a point in his first game with the Avs, recording the secondary assist on MacKinnon’s opening goal.
- Center Ryan Johansen did not record a point but he set up the screen in front of goalie Cam Talbot on Makar’s power-play tally.
- Logan O’Connor led the forwards in PK ice-time with 4:56. Devon Toews had 4:38 from the blue line.
- Andrew Cogliano did not dress (neck). He was replaced on the fourth line by Kurtis MacDermid.
- Georgiev made 34 saves to earn the victory.