Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals and Brock Nelson produced three points to carry the Colorado Avalanche to an 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena on Wednesday.
Colorado struck first when Nelson scored on a snap shot during a power play at 6:33 of the opening period. Los Angeles countered at 15:14 with an even-strength wrist shot from Brian Dumoulin to make it 1-1. The Avalanche grabbed the lead back late in the frame when Parker Kelly scored on a snap shot at 17:58.
The Avalanche extended their advantage with a four-goal second period. MacKinnon converted on the power play 23 seconds into the frame, though Joel Armia answered with a short-handed wrist shot at 1:28 to keep Los Angeles close. MacKinnon struck again at 8:33 on a wrist shot, followed by Nicolas Roy poking in an even-strength goal at 16:01. Trevor Moore cut the deficit to 5-3 with another short-handed tally for the Kings at 17:50, but Artturi Lehkonen answered with a power-play snap shot at 18:34.
Artemi Panarin brought Los Angeles within two with an even-strength wrist shot at 11:51 of the third period. Colorado closed out the scoring when Gabriel Landeskog scored on a wrist shot at 14:03 and Lehkonen buried his second power-play goal of the game at 15:06.
Special teams played a primary role, with Colorado finishing 4 of 5 on the power play while holding Los Angeles to 0 of 4 with the man advantage. Mackenzie Blackwood earned the win in net for the Avalanche, stopping 27 of 31 shots. Darcy Kuemper took the loss for the Kings, making 21 saves on 29 shots.
The victory moved Colorado to 1-0-0 on the regular season, while Los Angeles fell to 0-1-0. Nelson registered his first three points of the season with one goal and two assists.
Colorado plays its next game at the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, October 19. Los Angeles visits the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, October 20.
