LOS ANGELES — It took more than 55 minutes and one of the prettiest goals of the season, but the Colorado Avalanche found a way past the Los Angeles Kings.
Devon Toews scored with 4:55 left at the end of a beautiful team sequence, and the Avs defeated the Kings, 4-2, Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.
“I liked our game a lot,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We were committed on the defensive side of things, both suppressing chances and shots. We were pretty hungry on the offensive side of it, too.”
Nathan MacKinnon finished the game-winning play with a perfect pass to Toews. Their Canadian Olympic teammate Cale Makar was also involved in a three-man weave that left Toews with a wide-open net to shoot at for his second goal of the season.
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The 40th win of Colorado's season did not come without a significant cost. Artturi Lehkonen left this game before it was 10 minutes old with an upper-body injury. Bednar said he will not play Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks and "will miss some time."
Martin Necas, who scored into an empty net in the final seconds, and Gabe Landeskog finished with three points. MacKinnon also had a pair. The Avs had 19 scoring chances and 20 shots on goal in 19:06 of 5-on-5 play when MacKinnon was on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.
"I thought the MacKinnon line with Necas and Landeskog were outstanding," Bednar said. "They were dangerous the whole night, right from the get go.
This was Los Angeles' first game under interim coach D.J. Smith, and the Kings, particularly goaltender Anton Forsberg, put up a valiant effort as a clearly overmatched club. Colorado dominated possession in this game for about 55 of the 60 minutes, and eventually found a winner.
The Avs thought they had a 3-1 lead five minutes into the second period, but a quick whistle cost them an obvious goal. Necas banged home the rebound of a MacKinnon shot, but one of the officials blew a whistle, thinking that Forsberg had control of the puck. He never did, and the Avs players were furious.
"I don't know. (Forsberg) never covered it," Necas said. "We're there for two minutes in the o-zone. Yeah, that one pissed me off."
Colorado's top line staked the Avalanche to a two-goal lead in the first period. Necas set up MacKinnon for a one-timer on a 2-on-1 on their second shift of the game. MacKinnon collected his league-leading 41st goal of the season at 4:27 of the period.
Landeskog made it a two-goal advantage on the top line's fourth shift. The captain had started the play on Colorado's first goal and he finished it on the second. Necas collected the puck after a MacKinnon shot, and sent it to Brent Burns in the left circle. The defenseman turned and found Landeskog open at the top of the circles for a one-timer and his eighth goal of the year at 10:13.
Colorado never really stopped dominating territorially, but Los Angeles was able to claw back and tie the score. Brandt Clarke late in the first period on the power play, six seconds after Josh Manson went to the box. Avs goalie Mackenzie Blackwood never saw Clarke's shot from the top of the zone through some traffic.
A few minutes after Necas' goal was waived off, the Kings found an equalizer. Defenseman Angus Booth, one of three Kings making his NHL debut, went to the net and re-directed a pass from partner Brian Dumoulin near the left post at 8:32.
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"We had a lot of opportunities," Necas said. "We got two right away, but then we had a lot of chances in the second. Nothing really went in, but we stuck with it and that's what happens."
The Kings were without a bunch of regulars, including Drew Doughty, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko, because of injuries.
Former University of Denver forward Jared Wright was one of the three Kings making their NHL debut. Wright, a national champion with the Pioneers in 2024, was a sixth-round pick in 2022 by Los Angeles and signed with the Kings after last season. Wright has 15 goals and 28 points in 53 games for Ontario in the AHL in his first season as a pro.
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