Rapid Recap: Kings 3, Avalanche 1

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.--Tyler Toffoli scored three times and the Colorado Avalanche fell 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings at the 2020 NHL Stadium Series at the Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium.
Toffoli got the Kings on the board with the first period's lone goal, and Samuel Girard tied the contest late in the second period. Toffoli tallied his second with less than a minute remaining and completed the hat trick into an empty net.
Philipp Grubauer stopped 14-of-15 shots before leaving with an injury with 17:27 remaining in the third period. Pavel Francouz finiished the game and made six saves.

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 32 saves. Alex Iafallo, Joakim Ryan and Anze Kopitar added assists.
Colorado outshot Los Angeles 33-23 in the matchup.
It was the first meeting of the year between the Avalanche and Kings. The teams meet twice more, both in Los Angeles on Feb. 22 and March 9.
Statistics
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Photo Gallery

THE GOALS

1st Period
14:01 LAK (0-1) - Joakim Ryan's shot from the point hit the post and ricocheted through the crease to Tyler Toffoli, and he scored into an open net.
2nd Period
19:18 COL (1-1) - Samuel Girard tied the game while Nathan MacKinnon was standing in front of Jonathan Quick. Mikko Rantanen picked up an assist on the tally.
3rd Period
19:05 LAK (1-2) - Tyler Toffoli scored through traffic after a faceoff to give the Kings' the late lead.
19:55 LAK (1-3) - ENG, Tyler Toffoli completed his hat trick with a score into an empty net.
Final: Kings - 3 | Avalanche - 1

3 STARS

Selected by NHL Hockey Ops

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 2
Los Angeles:0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer stopped 14-of-15 shots before leaving the game with 17:27 remaining in the third period. Pavel Francouz came in and made six saves.
Los Angeles:Jonathan Quick stopped 32-of 33-shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The contest was the Avalanche's second appearance in an NHL outdoor regular-season contest. The team previously hosted the 2016 NHL Stadium Series at Coors Field in Denver. The 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series marked the second time the NHL has brought the Stadium Series to a U.S. Service Academy following the Washington-Toronto matchup at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2018.
The game was played 6,621 feet above sea level, a record for an NHL regular-season outdoor game. The figure surpassed the 5,200-foot elevation of Coors Field in Denver, home to a 2016 Stadium Series game between the Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.

NOTEBOOK

It was Colorado's second regular-season outdoor game. Erik Johnson, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon were the only skaters to appear in each of those contests… It was the first outdoor NHL game for 13 Avalanche players... It was 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit at puck drop... A crowd of 43,574 fans attended Falcon Stadium. The 30 NHL regular-season outdoor games have drawn total attendance of 1,622,081--an average of 54,069 per game... The matchup was the first of three meeting between the Kings and Avalanche this year. Los Angeles is the final NHL team to face Colorado in 2019-20, and it is the Kings' lone visit to the Centennial State as the Avs will make two trips out West.

QUOTABLE

Nathan MacKinnon on the atmosphere: "I think the coolest part was seeing the cadets and all the people who serve. They had so much energy when we were coming in and out of the dressing room. That was really cool, definitely stuck out for me."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

Thank you for your service.

ROSTER REPORT

The Avalanche used the same forward combinations and defensive pairings as it did in its last outing on Thursday… Philipp Grubauer started his third straight game… Mark Barberio and T.J. Tynan were the healthy scratches. Tynan was recalled from the AHL Colorado Eagles on Friday.

INJURY UPDATE

Nazem Kadri (lower body) remains out indefinitely with his injury… Colin Wilson (lower body) continues his recovery from two surgeries earlier this season... Philipp Grubauer left the game with 17:27 remaining in the third period with a lower-body injury... Matt Calvert, who played 12:47 in the contest, also has a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Colorado wraps up a five-game homestand with a matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and New York Islanders on Wednesday. After the home stay, the Avs head to Southern California for a back-to-back set at the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 11 Matt Calvert
83 Matt Nieto - 17 Tyson Jost - 81 Vladislav Kamenev
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz