LAS VEGAS — The Colorado Avalanche could look across the ice Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena and see … themselves, from the past couple of seasons.
Colorado faces the Vegas Golden Knights in a matchup of two division leaders Saturday. It could be the preview of a looming Western Conference postseason showdown.
What it won’t be is two sides going to battle with all of its top weaponry available. The Golden Knights are trying to survive right now, with franchise center Jack Eichel, No. 1 defenseman Shea Theodore and No. 1 goalie Adin Hill all out with injuries.
Toss in Alex Pietrangelo, who is taking the entire year off because of injury a la Gabe Landeskog, and the parallels between the 2025-26 Golden Knights and the past three additions of the Avs, which all dealt with significant availability issues, are even more similar.
Still, the Golden Knights have been able to grind out enough points to lead the Pacific Division. Vegas, Anaheim and Edmonton all reached the holiday break level on 44 points, but the Knights have played the fewest games.
“Teams go through adversity at different times,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “These guys are through it a little bit right now. The parody in the league is as good as it’s ever been … I do think there are some teams that usually have a big role to play that are going to finish right where you kind of expect them to.”
To Bednar’s point, several NHL clubs considered top Stanley Cup contenders in the preseason have scuffled through the first half of the campaign. Vegas and Edmonton both have had struggles, while Florida and Tampa Bay have dealt with significant injury concerns of their own in the East.
Colorado and Dallas have been much healthier, and those two clubs have soared above the rest in the NHL standings. But as the league gears up for the second segment of this season as a lead up to the 2026 Olympic break, the Oilers and Panthers have surged back into a playoff position, while the Lightning and Golden Knights have continued to struggle.
“I think leadership, coaching, culture but also just having really good players and depth is big,” Avs center Jack Drury said. “Those are all well-coached teams. I think that helps a lot.”
Vegas has teetered a bit without Eichel, though. He’s missed the past four games, which includes losses to New Jersey, Calgary and Edmonton. Mitch Marner, the marquee offseason addition for any NHL team, has spent some time at center with both Eichel and William Karlsson out of the lineup.
Marner left Toronto and signed with Vegas for the same contract Mikko Rantanen inked in Dallas — eight years, $96 million. Marner has nine goals and 38 points in 35 games for Vegas.
“I think he just adds a different dynamic,” Avs center Brock Nelson, who lined up against Marner for years in the Eastern Conference, said. “He makes guys around him better. He’s so dangerous with the puck. It’s his vision. He creates turnovers, one of the better sticks in the league. He impacts the game pretty well in every way.”
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas were electric together Saturday night, and the scary part is they think it will get better.
MacKinnon and Necas each had a goal and three points in a 5-4 shootout loss to the rival Dallas Stars at Ball Arena. It was only Game No. 3 on the schedule, but this will be one of the great contests of the Avs’ 2025-26 regular season, regardless of the end result.
“That line was really good,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “That was their best game. Game 1, reliable but not super dangerous. Game 2, we all had a rough night. Tonight, they were super dangerous from the get-go.”
While the Avs have done their best to say and show they have moved on from the Mikko Rantanen saga, this was his first time back in Denver since ending their season in May in cinematic fashion.
Necas doesn’t want to be Rantanen. The Avs want him to be the best version of himself, not a clone of their former star.
MacKinnon and his new running mate certainly put on a show Saturday night. The 2024 NHL MVP found Necas for Colorado’s first goal early in the second period with a perfect cross-ice pass.
Necas collected it at the base of the right faceoff circle and snapped a shot below the crossbar from a tight angle for his third goal of the season. It’s not hard to envision the MacKinnon-to-Rantanen version of that play.
Rantanen, as a lefthanded shooter, would have had his body turned the opposite direction and may have gone down to one knee while one-timing the puck. Necas, as a righty playing right wing, can’t make that play.
But, he found his own way to create a highlight-level goal.
“He’s a dynamic player,” MacKinnon said. “We both play with some pace. I think we’re just trying to figure out how to complement each other more. I think we play a similar style of game. We have the perfect guy with us. (Artturi Lehkonen) is always in the paint, always retrieving pucks. Yeah, it’s been pretty good.
“He’s looking awesome. Looks strong, seeing the ice well, shooting it well.”
MacKinnon set up Lehkonen for a tap-in at the edge of the crease on the first shift of the third period. The Avs controlled the puck and the majority of the scoring chances all night. But in a script Colorado fans have seen acted out too many times, Dallas kept finding ways to capitalize against the run of play.
With the Avs trailing in the third but gifted a four-minute power play, the dynamic duo found a way to make it 4-4. Brent Burns put a shot on net, and the rebound came right to Necas in the slot. He stopped it, flipped to his forehand and sent a pass to MacKinnon in the left circle for a one-timer with 9:14 remaining.
That was the 11th shot of the night on the power play, and the breakthrough the Avs needed.
“I thought (the power play) was really good tonight. A lot of great chances,” MacKinnon said. “I know we were getting booed. I guess they don’t know what a good power play looks like. We had a ton of chances, just nothing was going in. Then we finally got one.
“I guess they’ve got to boo us more.”
MacKinnon and Necas combined for six points and seven shots on goal. Lehkonen added a goal and four more shots.
Necas had two Grade-A chances late, including the only shot on goal in the overtime, but Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger robbed him on both.
“It was a fun game,” MacKinnon said. “The crowd was really into it. We played really well. It was just one of those nights.
“Hats off to Oettinger. They hung around, did what they had to do to win. It wasn’t a great game last game. I guess that’s the hockey gods, maybe. Maybe we didn’t deserve (to win) last game.”
MacKinnon and Necas have six points each through three games. How this partnership works will continue to be under the microscope all season, in part because it’s critical to the Avs’ success but also because Necas needs a new contract.
They’re still learning to play with each other, which should be worrying for opposing teams. Because they just dominated the game against one of the best clubs in the league, even if Rantanen got the last laugh in the shootout.
“I think over time they’ll learn,” Bednar said. “When (Necas) first got here, they seemed like they were bumping into each other all over the ice, because they want the same ice. So it’s awareness, recognition and being flexible about where you want to go.
“I think Marty will learn that. I think Nate’s learning that, showing up in different areas of the ice. I think it’s a natural progression. It’s not going to happen overnight, but they’re figuring it out.”
“Every day, you see (MacKinnon) do 10-12 things that are like, ‘Holy (expletive),’” Burns, a veteran defenseman who came over from Carolina, cackled. “And usually I’m at the wrong end of it. So it’s not good.”
Practice had just ended. MacKinnon’s skates were inside his locker. The rest of him was gone. Grinding.
“Working out,” an Avs staffer told me.
Twenty minutes became 25.
“He’s riding the bike now,” another staffer said. “Will be a bit of time.”
Twenty-five minutes became 30.
Then 35. Then 40. Then 45.
My phone buzzed.
“He’s on the way,” a voice said.
Think this man is easing up at age 30? Think he’s satisfied with one Stanley Cup?
You must be joking.
“I enjoy the day-to-day grind of it,” the Avs’ iconic center explained. “I enjoy working out. I enjoy skating with guys back home — just relaxing and working hard and trying to get better. So that kind of keeps me in the moment. ”
The rocket never rests. MacKinnon stands 6-foot in socks. But if carrying the Avs on his back, if dragging them kicking and screaming, gets Colorado another Stanley Cup in 2026, he’s good with that, too. Hop on.
“Just trying to get my mind and body ready for a long season,” MacKinnon continued. “Each day I come here, I’m just trying to get a little better. Just try to win every day I have. And hopefully that takes me and the team to a good spot.”
He’s in a better place than last May. That’s when old friend Mikko Rantanen, in what we hope doesn’t become a recurring theme, tore into MacKinnon’s chest and ripped his heart out. Rantanen, a stalwart of the Avs’ 2022 Cup champs, scored a hat trick to lead his new team, the Dallas Stars, to a maddening, series-clinching Game 7 win over his old one.
“It’s like getting over a breakup,” MacKinnon said of last season’s ignominious end. “It just takes a long time. Time heals everything.”
Including the Avs. Last spring’s wounds are this fall’s scars. Last October’s concerns are this year’s colonnades.
“I think when you all lose together, you’re in a painful experience together, I think you can come out of it stronger,” MacKinnon said of the Avs’ first-round elimination by a depleted Stars roster. “No one (in this locker room) was blaming each other; it was all on each other. I think it was a tough loss. We lost to a really good team. But I think we’ll be better because of it.”
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) takes the puck down ice against Dallas Stars center Mikael Granlund (64) and Esa Lindell (23) in the first period of game four of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
One Cup? For Nate, it’s not enough. It was never enough.
Mighty MacK’s good pal Sidney Crosby went seven years between championships. Colorado’s Burgundy Bolide turned 30 on Sept. 1. Father Time is the only dude MacKinnon can’t beat to the goal line.
“This is our fourth year (since 2022), so you just never know when it’s going to come,” the Avs center mused. “It’s just … sometimes, you win a couple in a row. Sometimes, it took (the Penguins) seven. And (then) they won two in a row. Hopefully, that happens for us one day. But I like where we’re at.”
Enter Burns. Enter Olofsson. Enter new assistant coach Dave Hakstol to help put some pep back into Colorado’s special teams. The Avs’ power play buzzsaw of the ’22 postseason was positively toothless in ’25 against the Stars.
“It’s not a ton of turnover, like last season (when) we had like nine new guys,” MacKinnon said. “Most of those guys are back. So I think it’s going to be a positive year — positive that we have so many returning guys.”
The negative? Landy turns 33 in November. Val turns 31 in March. Nelson’s 34th birthday falls on Oct. 15. Burns is lurching toward 41.
There’s a lot of mileage in that locker room. And an awful lot of tread worn off an awful lot of tires.
“I won’t look at Nate any differently if he wins one (Cup) or if he wins three,” Eddie Olczyk, the Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT analyst, told me by phone. “He’s won. He’s separated himself from many, many great players who have played this game.
“In terms of game-breakers and difference-makers, (the Avs) have two of the very best at different positions in (MacKinnon) and (defenseman) Cale Makar. But you need to stay healthy.”
Fortunately, the big 3-0 for Big Nate is no big deal. Like traffic on South Broadway and snow at Wolf Peak, MacKinnon’s wheels feel eternal.
Last spring, No. 29 became the first Avs player to post three consecutive seasons of 100 points or more, and the first in Colorado/Quebec annals since Peter Stastny pulled it off six times from 1980-86. MacKinnon is 33 goals away from 400 for his career.
During that ill-fated Stars series, MacKinnon took things as far as he could. His scoring clip of a goal per game was a new postseason high over nine different Cup runs. His 1.57 points per tilt were the most he’d produced in the playoffs since the 2020 COVID-19 bubble (1.67).
The problem? MacKinnon was a one-man wolf pack. No. 29 accounted for seven of Colorado’s 24 goals that series. The next-closest scorers were Artturi Lehkonen and Nichushkin, with three apiece. Coach Jared Bednar got juice from his top line and from his fourth — get well, Logan O’Connor — but the middle six vanished.
Dallas, meanwhile, eliminated the Avs minus the services of top defenseman Miro Heiskanen or forward Jason Robertson. Could you imagine Colorado knocking out a top-4 seed without Makar or MacKinnon?
“They (were) missing their best (defender) and maybe their best forward,” a crestfallen MacKinnon had said in Texas. “We still couldn’t beat them. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
He knows now.
“Yeah, obviously, it was (emotional),” MacKinnon said. “Hopefully, we are better next spring. But we’ve got a lot of hockey before that.
“It was heartbreaking. It was definitely the most tough loss of my career. By a mile.”
The best revenge is living well, Lord Stanley cradled in your loving arms. Payback’s a stitch. And Hell hath no fury like a Nathan scorned.
Colorado Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon, right, and Gabriel Landeskog answer questions from reporters at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The Avalanche has desperately needed Ross Colton’s goal-scoring surge to start the 2024-25 season with so many top forwards missing from the lineup.
Now the Avs need someone to step up and replace Colton.
The second-year Colorado forward took a shot off his right foot Monday night against the Chicago Blackhawks and did not play in the third period of an eventual 5-2 loss. He left the Avs locker room in a walking boot.
“He’s out,” Bednar said. “He took that shot … he’s going to miss some time. We’ll get a better feel on how long it’s going to be (Tuesday) or by Wednesday morning.”
Colton leads the Avalanche with eight goals in 10 games. He’s been the club’s go-to first-line left wing next to Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen since Jonathan Drouin was injured in the opening game of the season.
Colton and Drouin are joined on the unavailable list by Artturi Lehkonen (shoulder), Valeri Nichushkin (suspension) and Gabe Landeskog (knee). That’s nearly $25 million in forwards.
Lehkonen has a checkup scheduled for Tuesday on his shoulder, which required offseason surgery. He’s been practicing with the team and could play soon if that meeting with the doctor goes well. Drouin has been skating with the team in a red, no-contact jersey and could be getting closer to returning as well.
Nichushkin is not eligible to be reinstated from his suspension while in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA Players Assistance Program until the middle of next month, but he is skating and working out on his own in Denver.
The Avs began Monday on a five-game winning streak and some light at the end of this dark availability tunnel, but Colton’s injury adds another bit of uncertainty for the club.
That trade for Casey Mittelstadt looks pretty good so far.
Mittelstadt had three assists, including setting up the go-ahead goal with 6:31 left, and the Colorado Avalanche shook off a few minutes of lackluster hockey in the third period Sunday night to defeat the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, at Ball Arena.
It’s the Avs’ fifth straight win since starting the season 0-4. It’s also back-to-back three-point games for Mittelstadt, who joined the club before the trade deadline last season from Buffalo and signed a three-year contract this offseason.
“Just to have him last year, and then see the work he put in this summer, we knew there was another gear this guy could find,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Another step he can take in his game, like his complete game, but what’s going to follow is the production. He’s a super-talented guy. He sees things other guys can’t see, and he makes plays other guys can’t make.”
Mittelstadt earned the primary assist on all three goals. He’s up to five goals and 12 points in nine games, and hasn’t played a minute yet this season with the two guys who could eventually be his wings — Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin.
He found O’Connor in front of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Ross Colton continued his scoring tear to start the season with his eighth of the season 90 seconds later. Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-netter with 1:15 left to seal the win.
“(Mittelstadt) will find you anywhere. It’s insane,” O’Connor said. “You just get open and … forehand, backhand, three guys on him, no space, he’s still going to find you. It’s pretty remarkable. He’s honestly one of the best puck players I’ve ever played with.”
After Colorado had bottled up Ottawa for nearly 50 minutes, the Senators scored twice in 2:08 to even the score at 2-2. Brady Tkachuk had the first one, after a Tyler Kleven shot from the right point went wide. The rebound off the boards behind Justus Annunen came right to Tkachuk at the left post for a tap-in with 10:45 left in the third.
Ottawa kept pushing and found another similar goal with 8:37 left. Nick Cousins put home the rebound of a shot from the left point after getting position on Colton near the right post.
Annunen ended up allowing four goals in the final 11 minutes after yielding just four in his previous 11 periods combined, but the shorthanded Avs remain in “two points, anyway possible” mode.
“I would say it was one of those games where we found a way,” O’Connor said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it was how we wanted to win, but we’ll take those ones any day of the week.”
Nikolai Kovalenko’s first NHL goal came with 7.8 seconds left in the first period to give the Avs the lead. Kovalenko found a spot in the slot to post up during a 6-on-5 because of a delayed Ottawa penalty, and Mittelstadt found him for a one-timer.
MacKinnon had the secondary assist on Kovalenko’s goal. He thought he had scored a goal earlier in the period, but it was waved off for goaltender interference after Mikko Rantanen bumped Anton Forsberg as he was falling down near the left post.
Forsberg was at the center of some quirky drama in the second period. He needed repairs done to his skate, but the first time it took so long that the officials made Ottawa put Linus Ullmark in until the next stoppage in play. Forsberg came back in, but then had to exit a second time for more skate repairs. He eventually returned, so the Senators made four goalie changes during the period.
The Avs closed the second the same way they did the first — with a goal in the final minute. Josh Manson skated from the right point toward the middle of the ice and flung a harmless-looking backhanded shot at the net. Forsberg didn’t track it well, and had no idea where it was as it trickled behind him and into the net.
It was an odd night. Bednar split up MacKinnon and Rantanen at one point, then put them back together near the end. He also split up Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
The top players didn’t have a typically dominant night, but the Avs still scored five goals and remain one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
“When you’re losing and you feel like you’re not playing well, you start digging in to start playing better,” Bednar said. “It’s the attention to detail, the buy-in, the commitment it takes to win — just doing everything harder and cleaner.
“When you develop those habits and it comes around for you to get a little confidence, it tends to go that way.”
“Plan D” is working out A-OK for the Colorado Avalanche.
When Jared Bednar looks for a player to slot in next to Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, he has a list of traits in mind. They include being a trusted defensive player, being able to play a lot of minutes at a high energy level, playing with ruggedness and a desire to forecheck, and being a hard, competitive player at the front of the opposing team’s net.
The first three players who come to mind are captain Gabe Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen. None of them are available right now.
Enter Ross Colton.
“(Colton) does all of those things,” Bednar said. “He may be the fourth guy down the list, but he’s played really well when he’s done it.”
Technically, Colton might even be fifth, because Jonathan Drouin has also spent a lot of time next to MacKinnon and Rantanen … and he’s also not available. Colton has been a breakout star for the Avalanche to start this season.
Six games, six goals — including a pair in each of the club’s two victories.
“Being able to play with Nate and Mikko has just been a pleasure,” Colton said. “That’s two of the best players in the world. For me, I’m just trying to play my game, try to get open for them. You just find the smallest bit of area on the ice and they find you. It’s been fun.
“My favorite thing about playing with them is just coming back to the bench and the little things they tell you. It makes a big difference. It goes a long way, knowing that those guys believe in me and we’ve formed a little bit of chemistry.”
The Avs traded for Colton at the 2023 NHL draft, then signed him to a four-year contract. The plan was make to him the club’s new No. 3 center. He had played there at times, but Colton spent most of his time with Tampa Bay on the wing.
It wasn’t an easy transition early on last year, but by the end of the year he was a solid player in that spot. With all of those wings out of the lineup this year, Bednar needed him back on the wing.
And he has delivered, in a huge way. Colton was tied for second in the NHL with his six goals before the games on Monday night.
“He’s shooting the puck well,” Bednar said. “He’s getting himself into scoring areas. He’s been patient in those areas. He’s been moving in and out, especially in the middle. When he’s getting the opportunities, he’s burying them.
“I just think he’s playing with a ton of confidence. He’s skating really well. He’s just playing well and he’s fitting in with those guys.”
Both MacKinnon and Rantanen have praised Colton for his physical play. He isn’t the biggest guy, but he’s fearless when it comes to crashing into defensemen along the walls and behind the net.
His ability to shoot, particularly on one-timers, has been a revelation. The Avs have scored eight power-play goals, and Colton has three of them. He had three all of last season, in nearly 114 minutes of power-play time.
Two of his three even-strength goals have looked like the power-play tallies — one-timers from the middle of the ice.
“I’m just trying to get open for them,” Colton said. “Almost trying not to get in the way. They’re flying around out there, playing with so much speed and pace. For me, I’m just trying to get to the little areas where they can find me.”
Colton’s goal-scoring surge could present an interesting bit of roster flexibility in the months to come. His career high for goals in a season is 22 with the Lightning, which clearly looks like it could be in jeopardy.
But what will the Avs do when all of these wings are ready to return? Given the salary cap situation, it probably means Colton has to go back to center. That said, if some cap space does become available, it could give Colorado the ability to pursue a No. 3 center before the trade deadline and keep Colton firing away and flying around on the wing.
Either way, his level-up has been critical for the shorthanded Avs in his second year with the club.
“I know my game is there and I can play at this level,” Colton said. “Playing center last year was a little bit of an adjustment. Playing the wing, the game kinda slows down a little bit. I can get in on the forecheck, play physical, stuff like that.
“Last year, I was feeling it out, trying to learn the system. Yeah, way more comfortable this year.”
SAN JOSE — The high-flying, supercharged Colorado Avalanche did not show up Sunday at SAP Center, but Justus Annunen made sure that version of the club wasn’t needed.
Annunen made 25 saves, including a few key ones while the Avs were clearly on the back foot, and Colorado defeated a plucky San Jose Sharks outfit, 4-1. Given the roster limitations — Colorado was again without five of its 10 best players — the Avs need to scratch out as many points as possible.
“It was huge to get a solid goaltending performance,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Wasn’t a lot of work but he made key saves at key times. We did a nice job of blocking shots in front of him. He looked solid in there. He looked big in there.
“He lets the one squeak through him on the power play, and from then on he looked better and better as the game went on.”
After beginning the season with four straight losses, the Avalanche has now won back-to-back contests. Colorado’s next four contests are all against teams that, like Anaheim two nights ago and San Jose, did not make the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ross Colton scored twice early, then Joel Kiviranta provided a critical insurance goal early in the third period after the Sharks controlled play at times in the middle of this penalty-filled affair. Cale Makar added an empty-net goal as part of a three-point night.
Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen combined for six points in this game. They have 34 in six games — Makar has 12, which is tied for the NHL lead, while MacKinnon and Rantanen have 11 each.
“It’s been huge to have them going, because the bulk of our offense is coming from those guys as we’d expect it to, at this point,” Bednar said. “It’s a lot of pressure on them. We talked a little about making sure we’re still focusing on the defense side of it, which they really have in the last (few) games. It’s really paid off, and everyone else is sort of following suit and doing what they can.”
The first period went exactly as the Avs might have planned, save for the final couple of minutes. Colton gave Colorado a 2-0 lead with his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
Colton’s first game at 6:23 on the power play. He’s become a fixture in the bumper spot for the top power-play unit with Jonathan Drouin, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen not available. MacKinnon fed him for a one-timer in the slot. Colton’s first five goals of the season came on one-timers.
He did not need a one-timer to make it a two-goal advantage. Rantanen feathered a perfect pass to Colton as he got behind the San Jose defense for a goal at 16:37 of the period.
“(Colton) plays hard. He plays with the edge,” Rantanen said. “On the power play, he’s good in little spots, good at finishing plays like we’ve seen this year. (Jonathan Drouin) is obviously a big part of the power play, but (Colton) has been stepping up.”
Josh Manson took exception to a hit on John Ludvig and ended up with two roughing penalties instead of a fighting major. The Sharks scored 18 seconds into the power play when William Eklund was left open to the left of Annunen and roofed a shot from in tight with 1:35 left in the period.
The first period might have been one of Colorado’s best of the season to date, but the second was probably the worst outside of the loss against the New York Islanders. The Avs failed to take advantage of a 5-on-3 early in the period, then took four minor penalties themselves.
Annunen stopped all 13 shots he faced to keep it a 2-1 advantage.
This was Annunen’s first start of the season, and it came the day after Kaapo Kahkonen finally joined the club. Colorado claimed Kahkonen on waivers Oct. 11 from the Winnipeg Jets, but it took a week to resolve immigration issues before he could fly to Denver.
Alexandar Georgiev started the first five games of the season, and has improved his play after two duds to start the season. Annunen replaced him in both of those games, but quickly yielded a pair of goals in each of them, and entered this contest with a .765 save percentage (13 saves on 17 shots).
“I thought he looked really calmed,” Rantanen said of his fellow Finn in net. “It’s probably easier mentally, I’ve never been a goalie, than being put in mid-game when we are down and pushing. Now he got the start and I’m happy for him. He played well.”
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone and Victor Olofsson each scored two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 8-4 on Wednesday night in the teams’ season opener.
Barbashev also had two assists, linemate Jack Eichel had four and defenseman Shea Theodore added three. Adin Hill finished with 28 saves.
Mikko Rantanen had three goals, while Casey Mittelstadt also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 11 saves. Justus Annunen came in for Georgiev and stopped two of the four shots he faced.
Takeaways
Avalanche: As their number one goaltender, Georgiev struggled terribly in allowing five or more goals in a regular-season game for the 34th time in his career. He came into the game with a 4-4-2 mark against Vegas, with a 2.59 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.
Golden Knights: Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy stressed the importance of chemistry with his forwards during training camp, starting with one center and one wing building chemistry before adding a third element once he was confident with the initial pairing. Cassidy seemingly got it right with his top line of Stone, Barbashev and Eichel, as the trio combined for 10 points.
Key moment
After falling behind 1-0 midway through the first period, the Golden Knights wasted no time in tying the game when Olofsson sniped Georgiev from near the bottom of the right circle, firing it short side just over the goalie’s right shoulder.
Key stat
Rantanen’s hat trick was the eighth of his career, and second one of the calendar year. His last was last season in St. Louis on March 19. Five of Rantanen’s eight hat tricks have come on the road.
Up Next
The Avalanche host Columbus on Saturday, while the Golden Knights continue their season-opening three-game homestand by hosting St. Louis on Friday.
And suddenly this organization needs him as much as he has needed them.
Two years is not a long time. But the Stanley Cup parade feels like forever ago. No longer are the Avs entering the season, which starts Wednesday night, as the favorite to win a championship. That honor belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars. Colorado is a team seeking to maintain a standard of excellence while going through an awkward transition forced by injury (Gabe Landeskog) and absence (Val Nichushkin).
There was a time when the Avs could not escape the second round of the playoffs, and Bednar was advanced as the reason why. He dispelled that notion with the 2021-22 title run, delivering a 16-4 postseason record.
But the days of the Avs running on fiber optics against dialup opponents are over. They led the league in goals per game last season, something they are unlikely to repeat with Landeskog (uncertain) and Nichushkin (possibly mid-November) unavailable. They ranked 16th in goals against.
That number remains more salient than ever, tracing back to the man on the bench. Bednar has guided the Avs to seven consecutive playoff berths and averaged 52 wins over the past three seasons. Some believe an auto-pilot coach could produce these results. I respectfully disagree, and this represents a season for Bednar to drive this point home.
As a roughneck minor league player, Bednar answered to the nickname “Bedrock.” His plus-minus was horrifying, but revealing. He was the guy who had everyone’s back and never shied away from dropping the gloves.
He wants to succeed as much as the next coach, and this season he will have to convince the players to buy into his long point of emphasis: defense.
He has created a strong culture, one that will be tested with the meshing of as many as five young players on the opening roster. It needs to manifest itself in the first few months through goal prevention, not Disney on Ice skating.
“It is obviously demanding, his style of play. He takes a lot of pride in the defensive game, which is exactly what we have to think about. We have to be pushing toward being really good defensively,” right winger Mikko Rantanen said. “What I have noticed the last couple of years, it’s been more demanding on that side, which is really good because in the playoffs you need to be rock solid defensively to have success.”
The Avs lost their way at the end of last season, their breakdowns staggering as they were stunning. Throw in the suspension of Nichushkin before the puck dropped in Game 4 against the Dallas Stars last May, and any chance of regaining their traction disappeared.
The Avs can sit around and cross their fingers until their knuckles are white, hoping everything works out with Landeskog and Nichushkin. Or Bednar can move forward like it will not. This team must operate under the worst-case scenario to avoid another early postseason exit.
Of course, that means finding more secondary scoring outside of reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Rantanen.
But this group requires consistent defense to ease the pressure on Alexander Georgiev, a solid goalie, whose slumps call for gulping Tums.
“It absolutely must be that way to start the year. With those injuries and guys we are missing, it’s going to be critical that we play in the structure of our system and be detail-oriented. Obviously, we generally do that, but we could get away with not doing it before,” right winger Logan O’Connor said. “There’s more emphasis on it. (Bednar) lays out the template for us with video and the numbers to see where we stand. He does a good job of using the analytics and meshing it with the message on what we need to do.”
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, left, talks to players Nikolai Kovalenko (51), Ross Colton, third from left, and Colorado Avalanche left wing Miles Wood (28), right, during practice before game five of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Canada on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
No conversation about Bednar’s coaching occurs without the word “accountability” surfacing. Bednar cites the word in his press conferences. And players insist it is not hollow. They say he is fair in conversations, but hard on them. It remains tricky when leading an accomplished team, knowing when to hit the gas and when to throttle back. Too much of either creates static that morphs into background noise.
“Bedsy is a person who understands how I play and how I want to play. I think he does a really good job of holding guys accountable,” center Casey Mittelstadt said. “But he is also understanding of what it means to be a hockey player and the pressure that is on us. I think he does a really good job of balancing that. And that is a very tough thing to do.”
This season offers an opportunity for Bednar. Will he take charge of this transitioning roster, creating another layer to the club’s identity? Or will it be the other way around? The Avs have issues that are beyond their control with Landeskog and Nichushkin. But no one cares.
Once you have engraved names on Lord Stanley’s Cup, and the core remains in place, that is what everyone seeks. It is the foundation of everything the Avs do, and Bednar, perhaps more than ever, must be this team’s Bedrock.
“Obviously our goals remain the same. We expect to win. We make no secrets about it,” Bednar said. “The things that change are how we expect to get there.”
Sleepless in Seattle, Doomed in Denver. Two straight postseasons. Two straight playoff exits for Valeri Nichushkin.
It’s been real, Val. Lord, it’s been glorious. But this is your stop.
The Avalanche title train needs engines it can rely on.
You weep for the man. You rage at the loss. You wonder about the Avs front office, which circled the wagons, protected and enabled their troubled winger. Only to be burned again.
It’s over. It’s time.
The championship window won’t wait.
Nathan MacKinnon turns 29 in September. Mikko Rantanen’s 28th birthday falls a month later. Gabe Landeskog will be 32 a month after that.
The Avs are on the clock.
And the timing couldn’t be worse.
Roughly an hour before Colorado dropped the puck on a pivotal Game 4 at home in their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series Monday night with the Dallas Stars, the NHL and NHLPA jointly dropped the bomb on the player nicknamed Nuke.
Nichushkin, the announcement read, had been placed in Stage 3 of the NHL Player Assistance Program but did not disclose why. Which means he’s suspended without pay for six months, and eligible to apply for reinstatement after that.
In other words, not just whatever’s left of this year’s postseason run — but at least a month into the regular season of 2024-25 as well.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The clock doesn’t just apply to the window, either.
Nichushkin has a whopping six seasons left on an eight-year, $49-million deal inked after he lifted Lord Stanley high. It’s turned into Kris Bryant minus the laugh track, bad money wasted by a good organization.
If he can’t help you reel in another Cup, it’s time to cut bait.
Let someone else take this challenge on.
Nichushkin’s got too much talent to give up, you say. Absolutely true. He’s also too unreliable to lean on anymore as a piece of this championship puzzle, too much of a risk to be a pillar for the core.
After the mysterious departure in Seattle, his absence for treatment this past winter and Monday’s suspension, can the Avs, his brothers, trust him? Can MacKinnon, who tolerates fools about as much as he tolerates defenders? Can Colorado fans?
Because it’s the brilliance that breaks your heart. The Choo Choo Train, who spent much of the winter in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program, was exemplary this postseason. His nine playoffs goals as of Monday afternoon were tied for the most in the league. His six-game streak of lamp-lighting to open a Cup run is an Avalanche record and fell one shy of the league mark.
When Nichushkin is on his game, he’s a force of nature. A 6-foot-4 speedster, a masterful screener, a power play cheat code, a colossus with soft, careful watchmaker’s hands.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Two straight postseasons. Two straight playoff vanishing acts.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A couple of guys with Minnesota ties were making their first appearances at Xcel Energy Center in a Colorado Avalanche uniform. One State of Hockey great might have been making his last.
But it was the two Halifax Mooseheads who added another chapter to an incredible season and helped the Avalanche collect a much-needed win Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild to try and keep pace with the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.
Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin had three points each to help the Avs fend off the pesky Wild in a 5-2 victory. The win moved Colorado to within three points of the Stars. Both teams have six games to play.
“The most comfortable I’ve felt (is) the past couple weeks, especially playing with those guys,” Drouin said of Colorado’s top line. “I feel like I’m in the right spot. I’m not nervous. I’m not overwhelmed by it. I’m excited to play with those guys.”
MacKinnon’s goal 6:32 into the third period gave the Avalanche some much-needed breathing room after the home side had been pushing for an equalizer. Cale Makar checked the puck away from Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek in the high slot, and then MacKinnon and Drouin went to work.
MacKinnon sent the puck to Drouin, who returned the favor with a great pass to set him free for a shot back to the left as Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson got caught leaning too far the other way. It was MacKinnon’s 48th goal of the year. Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal to end any doubt.
“(Drouin) is making really nice plays,” Rantanen said. “You can tell his confidence has been going (up) all year, so it’s great. It’s important. He’s playing well at the most important of the time of the year.”
Drouin’s first goal gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Colorado caught a break when a tripping penalty was called on Kirill Kaprizov but a simultaneous trip of Eriksson Ek was not adjudicated. The Avs wasted little time. Drouin batted the rebound of a Makar shot from the top of the zone into the net for his 16th goal of the season.
He added No. 17 just 43 seconds into the second period. Rantanen made a great play to get the play started in the offensive zone, and eventually Drouin tipped a blast from the top of the zone by MacKinnon past Gustavsson to give the Avs a 3-1 lead.
“We didn’t talk about it yet, so I don’t know if it was on purpose or not,” Drouin said. “With him, I usually think it’s on purpose. I just try to get around my defender for two or three seconds and that puck was right on my stick.”
At that point, it felt like Colorado was in control. The Wild clawed back, controlling large portions of the second period and creating lots of quality chances. Declan Chisholm made it a 3-2 score midway through the period with a power-play goal.
The shots were 18-8 in the middle frame, but Justus Annunen made several quality saves. Drouin also made the defensive play of the game in the first minute of the third period.
Matt Boldy pressured Annunen behind the net and the puck squirted out in front of an empty cage. Marcus Johansson had the angle to get to it, but Drouin lifted his stick instead of lunging for the puck and erased the danger.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Annunen, who finished with 44 saves, had a slow start but was exceptional after the second goal.
“A couple of times I’ve noticed with him, his mental strength is pretty good,” Rantanen said. “He lets up an early goal sometimes, like today, but then he just shuts you down almost for the rest of the game. The way he’s poised in the net, I really enjoy playing in front of him.”
Artturi Lehkonen put the Avalanche on the board first. Minnesota native Casey Mittelstadt won a faceoff in the Wild zone, and Lehkonen was able to score on his second try after collecting the rebound of a Jack Johnson point shot 4:34 into the opening period.
The Wild responded less than four minutes later when Vinni Lettieri’s one-timer from the right point beat Annunen off the far post to even the score at 1-1.
This game was the first one back for former Wild glue guy Brandon Duhaime after the Avs acquired him before the trade deadline, and he received a warm welcome. It also might have been the final one at The X for Zach Parise, a Minneapolis native who played nine seasons for the Wild.
The only drama left in the final period Friday night at Ball Arena was whether Nathan MacKinnon could continue his pursuit of NHL history and extend his home scoring streak to 33 games.
MacKinnon took care of it with 13:59 to spare, then added another on a surgical power-play goal barely more than a minute later to help the Colorado Avalanche crush the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-1. It was Colorado’s eighth straight victory, and moved the Avalanche to the top of the Central Division with 95 points.
“The streak is a result of all the hard work and dedication that he brings to the game on a nightly basis,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s not a guy on that bench that didn’t know he hadn’t had a point yet, and when he got it everyone was pretty happy. You can see he wants it. He was a little ornery on the bench when he hadn’t got a point yet. That’s the pressure he puts on himself.”
Cale Makar casually broke up a 2-on-2 rush for the Blue Jackets and set MacKinnon loose on a breakaway. MacKinnon had seven shots on goal before this, but didn’t miss with No. 8 and set a new career high with 43 goals in a season. Toss in the primary assist on Mikko Rantanen’s second goal of the night 73 seconds later, and MacKinnon has 119 points, one shy of Joe Sakic’s Denver-based record.
The overall franchise record, 139 for Peter Stastny in 1981-82, remains very much in play. MacKinnon’s home scoring streak is now tied with one Wayne Gretzky run for the second-longest in league history. He’s chasing Gretzky’s 1988-89 season, when he had a point in all 40 home games.
Makar had Colorado’s first goal after a nifty rush sequence. Jonathan Drouin gained the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Artturi Lehkonen. He immediately found Makar in some open space near the right circle for his 18th goal of the season. That ties Nashville’s Roman Josi for the league lead among defensemen and left him three points shy of Quinn Hughes for tops in that category.
Jared Bednar reunited Ross Colton and Miles Wood on the team’s third line along with Zach Parise, and that trio created the second goal. Parise pulled up along the right wing, saw his linemates both loitering near the net and sent the puck in that direction. Both guys were there hunting for the rebound, and Colton shoveled it across the line for his 15th of the season.
“I feel like they should be playing together,” Bednar said. “They get along off the ice. We’ve seen them play some great stretches of games. … I know that they have it in them. They just had to work through some issues. Great conscious on the defensive side tonight, physical, went to the net hard, drew penalties, banged in a rebound goal. I liked that line a lot tonight.”
Bednar did some in-game tinkering as well, flipping MacKinnon and Casey Mittelstadt’s on the top two lines. Rantanen scored on Mittelstadt’s first shift with him and Valeri Nichushkin, deflecting a point shot from Josh Manson past Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) handles the puck against Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean (22) in the first period at Ball Arena in Denver on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Rantanen now has eight goals in his past five games, and is ninth in the league with 39 this season. Nichushkin added one in the third period to give that line two goals in as many periods. It was his 26th of the season, which is also a new personal best.
“They make the game easy,” Mittelstadt said of playing with Rantanen and Nichushkin. “There’s so many good players here. I feel like I’m just trying to fit in and make plays. I think if you stay within the system, the puck follows you around a little bit. They can both make plays and are elite players so it was a blast.”
Damon Severson put the Blue Jackets ahead early in the first period. Johnny Gaudreau sent the puck from along the boards on the right wing to near the far post and Severson was there to redirect it home. That was the high water mark for the visitors.
At one point the shots 5-4 in favor of Colorado, but the Avalanche had 19 of the next 20 and surged ahead in the process. The second period was 20 minutes without a penalty on either team, and Colorado flexed its proverbial muscles with its new-look roster.
The final carnage was two goals, a 23-7 advantage in shots on goal and a 19-4 advantage in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
“Spending a lot of time in their zone and I’m kind of waiting for something to happen,” said Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who made 23 saves but only faced 12 shots in the first 40 minutes. “It’s 3-1 heading into the third. We were pretty happy with that. We knew they were going to make a push. We tried to play smart and score the next goal. We did that. It was a great job by the guys.”
The Avalanche made two significant trades Wednesday morning to bolster their chances of winning the Stanley Cup this season. Then the guys who are the biggest reason why they can win a second title in three years when out and put on a show against the Detroit Red Wings at Ball Arena.
Cale Makar had his first career hat trick, while he, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen all had four-point games to help the shorthanded Avalanche blow by the Red Wings, 7-2.
General manager Chris MacFarland shook up the roster earlier in the day with a pair of trades. The Avs added a new No. 2 center, Casey Mittelstadt, from the Buffalo Sabres and right-handed defenseman Sean Walker from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Bo Byram went to Buffalo and Ryan Johansen was sent to Philadelphia in the transactions. The new guys didn’t arrive in Denver in time to play and forward Logan O’Connor was unavailable because of an injury.
That left the Avalanche undermanned — Colorado moved Caleb Jones into the lineup for Byram and recalled forwards Jean-Luc Foudy and Ondrej Pavel to fill out the forward corps.
The big guns made sure it wasn’t a problem. MacKinnon became the first player to score 40 goals in back-to-back seasons for the franchise since it moved to Denver from Quebec, while also grabbing sole possession of the NHL scoring lead with 109 points — four more than Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
Makar became the fourth defenseman to score a hat trick in franchise history, and the first since Sandis Ozolinsh on Dec. 6, 1999. He now leads all NHL defensemen with 17 goals, and his 70 points is three shy of Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes for the league lead.
Rantanen reached 50 assists for the third consecutive season. He had four assists in this game, plus 16 shot attempts, the second-most he’s had all season.
The Red Wings scored on their first shot of the game less than two minutes in, but both Red Wings goaltenders were under siege for the final 58.
Colorado’s top line and defense pair scored the first five goals for the Avs, before Jonathan Drouin made it 6-2 in the third period with his second tally in as many games. Foudy joined the scoring party with his first career NHL goal at 15:25 of the third, by which point most of the red-clad Red Wings fans in attendance had left the premises.
