Hamilton and Makar Score in Preseason NHL Debuts as Avalanche Defeats Mammoth 4-1 in Opener

Weekend Win

Beckett Hamilton and Taylor Makar scored in their preseason NHL debuts as the Avalanche won 4-1 against the Utah Mammoth on Sunday at Ball Arena. Gavin Brindley and Brock Nelson both added tallies for Colorado, while Martin Necas, Nazem Kadri, Artturi Lehkonen, Devon Toews, Brindley and T.J. Hughes all posted an assist. 

In net for Colorado, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all seven shots he faced, while Ilya Nabokov made 16 saves in his preseason NHL debut.

"I noticed Brinds (Brindley) right away," Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said when asked which players stood out to him. "The competitiveness, the speed of the game, his skating-- he's quick all over the ice. He was relentless on pucks. I put Taylor Makar in that same category. They both end up scoring, too, because of the same type of thing: quickness, effort [and] competitiveness. And for me, Hughes kind of stood out, especially on the power play. Smart; just moves the puck with great timing to the right guy. Made a bunch of offensive plays. And Nabokov was great in goal, too...Blackwood was really good, too."

How It Happened

Colorado started fast, outshooting Utah 3-0 in the first 5:40 of the game. 

Through the first 20 minutes of action, the Avalanche outshot the Mammoth 6-3, which was a byproduct of Colorado dominating possession in the opening period.

Hamilton opened the scoring at 8:54 of the second period with a shot from the right doorstep set up by Martin Necas, who set up the goal after he batted down Utah defenseman Maveric Lamoureux's pass out of midair.

The Mammoth tied the game at 15:27 of the second period when Yegor Borikov scored with a shot from the doorstep. 

Brindley gave the Avs a 2-1 lead at 1:52 of the third period with a shot from the right doorstep set up by Kadri to finish off a two-on-one rush. Utah challenged the goal for offside, but it was unsuccessful, which led to the visitors being assessed a minor penalty.

On the ensuing power play, Colorado doubled its lead at 2:27 of the third period when Nelson scored via a one-timer from the high slot set up by Artturi Lehkonen.

Makar gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead at 17:27 of the third period on a partial breakaway set up by Brindley's chip out of the neutral zone.

After the game, Makar said that he badly wanted to score that goal because it was against Mammoth goaltender Michael Hrabal, whom Makar played against in college.

Next Up

The Avalanche continues preseason play with a road game on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets at 6 p.m. MT on Altitude Sports Radio 950 AM.