The Colorado Avalanche has continued to find different ways to win during this historic start to the 2025-26 campaign, but there won’t be a lot from this one on the season highlight reel.
Martin Necas and Brock Nelson scored during one strong surge late in the second period, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves as the Avs fended off the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2, on Monday night at Ball Arena.
Nathan MacKinnon scored into an empty net for his league-leading 32nd goal of the season, and Cale Makar scored in the final minute to break open what had been a tight contest.
The defensive work was strong for much of the night, but special teams were a problem as the Kings scored a goal when both teams were on the power play.
Necas scored for the third time in two games to give Colorado the lead in the second period. It was a long shift in the offensive zone after Kings’ forward Trevor Moore lost his stick. The Avs hit the post at one point, then Moore got away with an obvious penalty to interfere with Makar, but their persistence paid off.
Necas wheeled around in the right circle to put the puck towards the net. It hit a body in front and then the left post. Gabe Landeskog dove head-first at the rebound, and the puck trickled along the goal line to the right post, where Necas met it for an easy tap-in at 13:21 of the second.
Nelson made it a two-goal lead with a wicked wrist shot at 17:30. Joel Kiviranta sent him the puck on the right wing during a rush, and Nelson whipped a shot from inside the circle into the top corner of the net for his 15th goal of the season.
Samuel Girard started the sequence with a pass to Kiviranta, giving him at least one point in four straight games and nine in his past eight contests.
While the Avs’ 26th-ranked power play did not get on track in this game, Los Angeles came into this contest even worse but did manage to score on the best penalty kill in the league.
The Kings’ first power play of the night looked like one from a team 13.9% for nearly two minutes, but right at the end, Kevin Fiala found Corey Perry for a tap-in at the edge of the crease 5:15 into the second period to make it a 1-1 contest at the time.
Colorado’s power play trouble has been a talking point all season, and this was yet another night where the Avalanche was clearly the superior team at even strength, but playing with an extra skater flummoxed them.
Not only did the Avs not score on four opportunities, but the Kings got back to within a goal early in the third while shorthanded. Joel Armia collected the puck in the Colorado offensive zone and took it nearly the full length of the ice before surprising Blackwood with a shot from the high slot with two defenders still in front of him at 4:58 of the third.
The Avs have now scored two power-play goals and allowed two shorthanded goals over the past five games. During this eight-game winning streak, Colorado has outscored its opponents 30-11 at even strength, but only 3-2 while on the power play.
Jack Drury had the lone goal of the opening period. Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty tried to make a cross-rink pass during a Kings breakout, but Ross Colton deflected it with one hand on his stick off the right boards to himself and then fed Drury in the middle of the ice for his sixth goal of the season at 9:24 of the first.
Drury’s shot fooled Anton Forsberg, who was playing in part because No. 1 netminder, ex-Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper, is out with an injury after his former teammate Mikko Rantanen collided with him two weeks ago.
Colorado got off to a slow start. Drury’s shot was only the team’s second of the game. Blackwood, coming off a shutout in his last start eight days prior against Utah, was busy early and made a trio of big saves to keep it scoreless.
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