What Happened
Nathan MacKinnon put together a four-point night featuring a goal and three assists to power the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday in Denver. The win allowed Colorado to recover from two straight road defeats and ended Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak. Nazem Kadri collected his first goal of the campaign, while Devon Toews, Fedor Svechkov, Artturi Lehkonen, and Martin Necas additionally found the back of the net for the hosts. Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 31 shots. For the Lightning, Jake Guentzel scored twice and Charle-Edouard D'Astous added a goal, but goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped only 18 of 23 shots. Nikita Kucherov was kept off the scoresheet, leaving him tied with Steven Stamkos for the franchise scoring lead with 1,137 career points.
Key Details
- Nathan MacKinnon registered one goal and three assists.
- Jake Guentzel scored two goals for the Lightning.
- Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves for the Avalanche.
- Logan O'Connor returned to Colorado's lineup after a lower-body injury.
- Nikita Kucherov is one point away from becoming Tampa Bay's career points leader.
What It Means
The victory allowed the Avalanche to halt a brief two-game slide on home ice. Meanwhile, the loss ended the Lightning's three-game winning run and kept Nikita Kucherov from claiming sole possession of the franchise career points record, leaving him level with Steven Stamkos at 1,137 points.