The Carolina Hurricanes against the Florida Panthers, this was not. No, this was the type of game you usually get very early in an NHL season.
A shootout.
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Defense and goaltending were mostly optional in Wednesday night’s season opener between the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena. One team has significantly more firepower than the other, and that would be the home team. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice in the second period and added a decisive victory in a fight to lead the Avalanche to an 8-4 opening-night victory.
The offense started early for the Avalanche on the power play. Yes, you heard that correctly. And not just any power play goal. A power-play goal from the second unit, a group that scored just one goal all of last season. New addition Jaden Schwartz attempted to hit Artturi Lehkonen in front, but his pass was a little too far off the ice. Brock Nelson was there to save the day, banking the puck off Darcy Kuemper and in to give the Avalanche the early lead.
Los Angeles answered back quickly thanks to some sloppy defensive work by Colorado but it wouldn’t take long for the Avalanche to regain the lead. Just as a Kings power play was expiring, Parker Kelly carried the puck in on a two-on-one, looking off Fedor Svechkov and beating Kuemper on the glove side to make it 2-1. Kelly scored 21 goals last season and the Avalanche believe he is capable of doing it again.
Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas (88) moves the puck behind the Kings goal as Los Angeles Kings center Alex Turcotte (15) defends during the first period Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)
The second period saw an issue from last season come creeping back to keep the Kings in the game. Colorado led the NHL in short-handed goals allowed in 2025-26 with 13, a stat they would prefer not to see again this season. Wednesday wasn’t a great start. Both Kings goals in period two came while short-handed, taking advantage of some sloppy passing by Colorado’s top unit.
Luckily for the Avalanche, they employ MacKinnon, who made up for the mistakes with two goals of his own. Nicolas Roy scored a greasy goal in front of the net before Lehkonen scored Colorado’s sixth late in the period, the second of the night for the second power-play unit. The Avalanche held a 6-3 lead after two periods despite sloppy play in their own end through 40 minutes.
Things settled down in the third period for the first 10 minutes until Artemi Panarin cut the lead to two on a delayed penalty call.
That’s when MacKinnon got mad.
The Avalanche have not enjoyed Brandt Clarke’s antics the past few seasons and after a few more incidents in this game, MacKinnon had enough. After getting tangled up with the Kings defenseman in the offensive zone, he challenged Clarke to a fight, who obliged.
Bad idea.
The Avalanche superstar unloaded whatever frustration he might have with the Kings defenseman in the form of right hooks, burying him to the ice and sending the Ball Arena crowd into a frenzy.
MacKinnon said the Kings defenseman said a word to him that he didn’t like, so he challenged him.
“He plays hard,” MacKinnon said. “He gets under guy’s skin. He’s a really good defenseman, but you know, sometimes when you play like that, you have to fight sometimes.”
Landeskog and Lehkonen added more goals late to cement the victory for the Avalanche, who will take Thursday off.
Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson (11) celebrates with left wing Artturi Lehkonen (62) and center Nazem Kadri (91) after scoring against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (Christian Murdock, The Gazette)
Avalanche 8, Kings 4
What happened: The Avalanche outscored the Kings for an opening-night victory.
What went right: The Avalanche did not have any problems scoring with the man advantage in this one. Four power-play goals propelled the home team in this one, including three from the second unit.
What went wrong: The short-handed issue cannot continue, and both Kings shorthanded goals came off sloppy play from the Avalanche. It’s early so it can be cleaned up, but it’s a little concerning given they struggled with it last season.
Avalanche goal scorers: Nelson (1), Kelly (1), MacKinnon (1,2), Roy (1), Lehkonen (1, 2), Landeskog (1)
Kings goal scorers: Dumoulin (1), Armia (1), Moore (1), Panarin (1)
Between the pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood got the start and had some very high highs. The group in front of him did not play very well, giving up two breakaways, both of which Blackwood was able to stop. He also probably wants the Kings’ first short-handed goal back, as it beat him pretty clean from far out. He stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced.
What’s next: The Avalanche will host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at 7 p.m.