Avalanche beat Kings 8-4 in powerful, record-setting opener

The Colorado Avalanche opened the season with an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at Ball Arena in Denver, as Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice. The Avalanche beat Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper eight times on 29 shots, and Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists for Colorado, which went 4-for-5 on the power play.

It was the first time the Avalanche scored eight goals in a season opener in franchise history, according to NHL.com. The Avalanche beat Kings defenders repeatedly in the second period, scoring four times to turn a 2-1 lead into a 6-3 advantage. Alex Laferriere led the Kings with two assists, and Kuemper made 21 saves in the loss.

Takeaways from Colorado’s win over Los Angeles

A back-and-forth first period

Nelson opened the scoring on a power play at 6:33 of the first, finishing a Jaden Schwartz pass that caromed in off the post and Kuemper’s pads. Brian Dumoulin answered for Los Angeles at 15:14 with a wrist shot through a screen, but Parker Kelly restored Colorado’s lead at 17:58, burying a 2-on-1 chance three seconds after a Kings power play expired, according to NHL.com.

MacKinnon set the tempo in the second period

MacKinnon scored 23 seconds into the middle frame, one-timing a Nazem Kadri pass on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 3-1. He struck again at 8:33, roofing a Martin Necas feed over Kuemper’s glove to push the lead to 4-2. Colorado never trailed again.

Avalanche beat Kings with a lethal power play

The Avalanche converted 4 of 5 power-play chances, getting goals from Nelson, MacKinnon and Lehkonen twice. The Kings went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

Los Angeles got shorthanded goals but couldn’t stop the bleeding

Joel Armia and Trevor Moore each scored shorthanded for the Kings, a rare bright spot. It was just the second time in 14 years the Kings scored two shorthanded goals in a road game, per NHL.com. But Los Angeles allowed eight goals on 29 shots and fell to 0-1-0 to start the season under coach Peter Laviolette.

“A lot of the things that we gave them tonight were our responsibility,” Laviolette said, according to NHL.com. “They are things that can be in our control.”

Player of the game: Artturi Lehkonen

Lehkonen scored twice, one-timing a Nelson pass from the slot on a power play at 18:34 of the second period and adding another power-play goal at 15:06 of the third. He finished with two goals, three shots and a plus-1 rating in 19:27 of ice time, according to ESPN.

Artemi Panarin, skating as an extra attacker, scored for the Kings at 11:51 of the third before Gabriel Landeskog and Lehkonen closed it out. Colorado coach Jared Bednar still saw work to do. “Lots to like, lots to work on, and I think most of it’s just building habits,” Bednar said, according to NHL.com. “The rush coverage was rough.”

Avalanche vs. Kings by the numbers

Colorado finished 4-for-5 on the power play, an 80 percent clip, as the Avalanche beat Kings penalty killers four times. Nelson posted three points, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves on 31 shots. Cale Makar had two assists and became the first defenseman in NHL history with multiple points in five straight season openers, NHL.com reported.

Los Angeles won 63.8 percent of faceoffs to Colorado’s 36.2 percent but could not overcome four power-play goals allowed. The Kings had 15 penalty minutes to Colorado’s 13 in a chippy opener in front of 18,092 fans.

What’s next

After the Avalanche beat Kings in the opener, Colorado (1-0-0) hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, Oct. 3. The Kings (0-1-0) visit the San Jose Sharks the same night.

See our Kings vs. Avalanche preview, the news on Jared Bednar’s contract extension and more NHL coverage.

Reporting from NHL.com contributed to this story. Statistics: ESPN.