Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Kings 2

The Colorado Avalanche opened its back-to-back with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Friday.
Brendan Lemieux opened the game's scoring less than three minutes after puck drop, but Mikko Rantanen recorded his 30th goal of the year to knot the contest at 1-1 just three and a half minutes later.
Tyson Jost and Cale Makar tallied in the middle frame to give Colorado the 3-1 lead at the second intermission. Alex Newhook assisted on Makar's marker to record his first NHL point.
Makar also added an assist while Andre Burakovsky had two helpers in the outing. Devon Toews and Jacob MacDonald each recorded an assist in the win as well

Gabriel Vilardi cut the Avalanche's lead in half in the closing minutes of regulation, but the Avs held on for the victory. Goalie Calvin Peterson made 34 saves for the Kings, as Colorado outshot Los Angeles 37-17 in the outing. The clubs will meet again on Saturday at Staples Center.

THE GOALS

1st Period
2:12 LAK (0-1) - Brendan Lemieux scored from the bottom of the left circle after the rebound from a Carl Grundstrom shot bounced to him.
5:49 COL (1-1) - PPG, Mikko Rantanen scored on a one-timer from the right circle on the power play.
2nd Period
2:56 COL (2-1) - Tyson Jost's shot from the left circle trickled through the Los Angeles goaltender and into the net.
10:02 COL (3-1) - Cale Makar skated the puck through the slot from the top of the left circle to the bottom of the right circle and scored. Alex Newhook picked up his first NHL point with an assist on the goal.
3rd Period
17:26 LAK (3-2) - Gabriel Vilardi scored from the slot after a Colorado turnover.
Final: Avalanche - 3 | Kings - 2

3 STARS

Selected by: Los Angeles media

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 4
Los Angeles: 0 for 1

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves in his 38th game of the year.
Los Angeles: Calvin Peterson allowed three goals on 37 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Cale Makar had a goal and assist to increase his season total to 41 points (seven goals, 34 assists). He is the first defenseman in franchise history to record 40-plus points in each of his first two NHL seasons. Only five defensemen in the league have accomplished the feat in the last 15 years since 2006-07 (Adam Fox, John Klingberg, Rasmus Dahlin, Kevin Shattenkirk).

NOTEBOOK

The victory was the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques' 1,500th in franchise history (1500-1327-261-142) and becomes the 18th team to reach the mark and first among the four WHA expansion clubs that entered the league in 1979... Mikko Rantanen found the back of the net for the 30th time this year, his second career 30-goal season (31 in 2018-19) and hitting the mark in his 48th game. Since the franchise arrived in Denver, only two other Avalanche players have reached 30 markers in fewer than 50 games: Joe Sakic (44 contests) in 1995-96 and Nathan MacKinnon (49) in 2019-20... Alex Newhook assisted on Cale Makar's tally to record his first NHL point…Tyson Jost scored for the second straight game. He now has five goals on the season… Andre Burakovsky had two assists to extend his point streak to four contests (three goals, three assists), his longest of the season… Philipp Grubauer appeared in his 38th game, setting a new career high... The Avs are 2-1-0 so far on this five-game road trip, Colorado's longest of 2020-21... The Avalanche is now 9-0-0 on Fridays this season... The contest opened Colorado's ninth back-to-back of the season. The Avs are now a combined 13-1-3 in the sets, with an 8-1-0 mark in the first game... They improve to 4-1-0 against the Kings this season.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Bring it in Boys.

ROSTER REPORT

Tyson Jost centered the top line with wingers Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, while Nazem Kadri moved back to the middle of the second trio with Valeri Nichushkin and Joonas Donskoi. Alex Newhook was between Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher, and center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare led a combination with Carl Soderberg and Kiefer Sherwood. The defensive pairings stayed the same, and Philipp Grubauer appeared in his 38th game of the campaign, setting a new career high. Colorado reassigned defenseman Kyle Burroughs to the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles prior to the outing.

INJURY UPDATE

Patrik Nemeth left the game about six minutes into the second period after colliding with the boards. Nathan MacKinnon missed the contest with a lower-body injury. Samuel Girard (lower body) and Brandon Saad (lower body) could possibly return to the lineup prior to the end of the regular season, as the two are participating in off-ice workouts in Denver. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been in COVID-19 protocol since Monday while rookie D-man Bowen Byram (upper body) is out week-to-week. Both Matt Calvert (upper body) and Logan O'Connor (lower body) are out long term, with O'Connor recently having surgery. Erik Johnson (upper body) could possibly return later in the playoffs, while goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) is out for the remainder of the campaign.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche and Kings finish their back-to-back set on Saturday at Staples Center. Colorado will visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday before concluding the regular season with another back-to-back against Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday at Ball Arena.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 17 Tyson Jost - 96 Mikko Rantanen
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
95 Andre Burakovsky - 18 Alex Newhook - 37 J.T. Compher
34 Carl Soderberg - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 44 Kiefer Sherwood
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
27 Ryan Graves - 22 Conor Timmins
24 Patrik Nemeth - 26 Jacob MacDonald
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
35 Jonas Johansson