Forward Adrian Kempe scored a late go-ahead goal to help lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-2 come-from-behind victory over the Avalanche on Thursday at Staples Center.
Colorado (2-2) led 2-0 after the first period before surrendering the final four goals.
“Our game was pretty good but we missed out on some opportunities,” Avs coach Jared Bedar said.
It was a night of debuts for the Avs, who made three changes to their lineup after defeating the Kings 3-2 on Tuesday. Making his Avalanche debut and first career NHL start, Hunter Miska stopped 23 shots in the losing effort. And on defense, Colorado inserted the newly acquired Greg Pateryn and 19-year-old Bowen Byram, who made his NHL debut.
“There were definitely some nerves to start,” Byram said. “I did some things well and there are things I can improve on. But overall, I think it’s a good starting point for me.”
Miska’s start came two days after it was announced that goalie Pavel Francouz is day-to-day after suffering an undisclosed injury in practice. The 25-year-old had not appeared in an NHL game since making his NHL debut in relief for Arizona in 2019.
“I allowed a couple of goals that I thought I could’ve had,” Miska said. “Overall I felt like I was pretty good and seeing the puck well, but it wasn’t enough.”
Superstar Nathan MacKinnon continued his strong start to the season. After setting up winger Mikko Rantanen for a tap-in goal in the early going, MacKinnon scored a power-play goal to make it 2-0 before the first intermission. It was the league-leading ninth power-play goal the Avalanche have scored through four games — three more than the next best teams.
But that was it for Colorado’s offense.
L.A. drew three penalties in the second period and all three were a factor in the comeback. Calls against Colorado’s Tyson Jost and Pateryn gave the Kings a lengthy 5-on-3. Defenseman Drew Doughty made them pay with a blast from the point to help the home team pull within a goal early in the frame. Gabe Vilardi added another goal for LA with the man-advantage before the break.
“We started getting into some penalty trouble and giving them some momentum,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “We still believe that even though it was 2-2 after two periods that they didn’t have much going five-on-five. Getting into some penalty trouble definitely gave them a chance to get back in the game.”
The Kings held the Avs to just nine shots on goal in the second half of the game. They also blocked 21 shots.
Colorado pulled its goalie with 2:13 remaining and Landeskog hit the post shortly thereafter. But LA’s Blake Lizotte answered with an empty-netter to put the Avs away.
Footnotes: Byram played 11:09 in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old took a holding penalty on his first shift. … Gabe Landeskog, Cale Makar, MacKinnon and Rantanen each played more than 22 minutes. … Bednar said Andre Burakovsky, who missed his second straight game with an injury, will not dress against Anaheim on Friday. Goalie Philipp Grubauer is expected to make his fourth start and will be backed up by Miska.