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.

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.