Nathan MacKinnon put his stamp all over Friday night in Denver, piling up a goal and three assists as the Colorado Avalanche rolled past the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3.
MacKinnon wasn’t the only one making noise for Colorado. Martin Necas finished with a goal and two assists, Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews each chipped in a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri plus Fedor Svechkov also scored as the Avalanche snapped a two-game skid. Mackenzie Blackwood backed it up with 31 saves.
Tampa Bay had answers in spots, but not enough of them to keep its winning streak alive. Jake Guentzel scored twice, Charle-Edouard D'Astous added a goal and an assist, Brayden Point set up two goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots as the Lightning saw their three-game run end.
Colorado set the tone early and never really let go. Toews opened the scoring 1:08 after the opening faceoff, finishing a cross-ice feed from Necas with a wrist shot.
Later in the period, Kadri made it 2-0 on the power play at 5:56, taking a pass from T.J. Hughes in the slot and snapping it home.
The Avalanche kept pressing after intermission. Just 24 seconds into the second period, Svechkov’s pass attempt in front of the net caromed off a sprawling Erik Cernak. Svechkov then batted the puck out of the air and in to push the lead to 3-0.
Tampa Bay finally broke through on the power play at 8:13 of the second when Guentzel finished a rebound. Colorado answered right back at 13:57, when MacKinnon found Lehkonen with a centering pass for the Avalanche’s fourth goal.
The Lightning managed another response at 19:17 of the second period. Guentzel buried a feed from Point at the tail end of a power play, and Colorado challenged for a missed stoppage, but the goal stood and Tampa Bay got another man advantage.
MacKinnon took over again early in the third. At 4:18, he took a pass from Lehkonen in the neutral zone, drove in on Vasilevskiy and ripped a shot inside the near post to put Colorado back up by three.
D'Astous pulled Tampa Bay within 5-3 at 15:13, but that was as close as it got. With Vasilevskiy pulled for an extra attacker, Necas sealed it with an empty-net goal 14 seconds after the goalie exited with 2:57 left.
Avalanche forward Logan O'Connor also made his season debut, finishing with three shots in nearly 15 minutes of ice time.
In Other News...
Lightning Affiliate Showed Serious Fight But One Problem Still Lingers
The Syracuse Crunch showed plenty of push in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Rochester Americans at Upstate Medical University Arena, rallying late in the third period just to keep the night alive. Brendan Furry and Ethan Gauthier handled the scoring, while Lucas Mercuri and Dylan Duke each set up two goals as Syracuse found a way to make a tight game out of it.
Still, the lingering issue was the same one that has a way of deciding these margin-of-error nights, because Rochester needed only a brief opening in extra time to end it. Syracuse got the point and the comeback effort it wanted, but the Crunch will have to live with a game that was there for the taking before the overtime finish tipped it the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Lightning Exposed A Bigger Problem In This Loss To Colorado
The Lightnings 6-3 loss to Colorado was more than just another blemish on the schedule. Tampa Bay gave up an early goal and spent most of the night chasing the game, even as Jake Guentzel provided a spark with two goals. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots, but the Avalanche kept finding ways through, with Nathan MacKinnon driving the pace and forcing the Lightning into a reactive game for much of the night.
What made the defeat sting was how little margin Tampa Bay had once Colorado settled in. The Avalanches top line dictated the flow, and the Lightning never really solved it, leaving the larger issue front and center as the game wore on. For a club that expects more from its defensive structure, the concern is not just the result itself but how quickly the cracks showed once Colorado turned up the pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Crunch Showed Late Fight Before A Frustrating Finish
The Syracuse Crunch found their offense in time to make a game of it at the Upstate Medical University Arena, with Brendan Furry and Ethan Gauthier both scoring in a tight 3-2 overtime loss to the Rochester Americans. Lucas Mercuri and Dylan Duke picked up the assists, and Mads Sogaard turned aside 22 shots for Syracuse in a contest that stayed close enough to swing either way.
Rochester had the edge when it mattered most, with Trevor Kuntar delivering the winner in overtime after a game that never lacked intensity. Matthew Villalta also finished with 22 saves, and the Crunchs late push only underscored how much they had to work to earn even a single point before the finish turned frustrating. [Read more 🡒]