Rapid Recap: Avalanche 3, Golden Knights 2

Nazem Kadri tallied in the final minute of regulation to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.
Following a faceoff win in the Golden Knights' end, Kadri knocked in a loose puck off a rebound with less than 41 seconds to play to give the Avs the split in Las Vegas.
Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring midway through the first period, and Brandon Saad gave Colorado a 2-1 lead late in the second period.

Vegas tied the outing twice, with Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Marchessault notching markers for the Knights.
Joonas Donskoi contributed two assists in the contest, while Saad also had multiple points with a helper on MacKinnon's tally. Mikko Rantanen, Ryan Graves and Bowen Byram contributed assists as well. Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves.
It was the second of four straight outings between the teams. Vegas is the first club the Avalanche will play four times in a row during the regular season in franchise history.

THE GOALS

1st Period
7:08 COL (1-0) - Nathan MacKinnon tallied his third goal of the season on a snap shot in the slot off a pass from Mikko Rantanen.
2nd Period
16:35 VGK (1-1) - PPG, Max Pacioretty turned, shot and scored from the right circle.
17:39 COL (2-1) - Brandon Saad drove toward the net and beat goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on a backhand shot that went five-hole.
3rd Period
6:52 VGK (2-2) - Jonathan Marchessault tallied during a scramble in the Colorado crease.
19:19 COL (3-2) - Nazem Kadri notched the game-winning goal on a rebound following a faceoff win in the Vegas end.
Final: Avalanche - 3 | Golden Knights - 2

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 3
Vegas: 1 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made 27-of-29 saves
Vegas: Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals on 25 shots

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The Avalanche scored the first goal of the game and has now done so in 10 of its 13 outings this season, the most among Western Conference clubs. Colorado has scored 13 total goals in the first period in 2020-21, which is the most in the league for teams that have played 13 or fewer contests.
The Avs also didn't allow a goal in the opening frame for the third-straight outing. Colorado has only allowed six first-period markers this season, the second-fewest in the NHL behind the New Jersey Devils (five in 10 games played).

NOTEBOOK

Joonas Donskoi has seven points in the last seven games (three goals, three assists)… Rookie defenseman Bowen Byram played a career-high 25:03... Brandon Saad recorded his fourth multi-point game of the year... Colorado's Dennis Gilbert and Vegas' Keegan Kolesar fought at 1:56 of the first period… The Golden Knights wore chrome gold helmets for the second time this season, falling to 0-2-0 all-time with the headwear… The Avs are now 1-1-0 in this four-game series against the Knights.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made his third straight start, while Adam Werner served as the backup. Colorado used the same personnel as it did in its previous contest, but the defensive pairings were mixed up. Devon Toews and Bowen Byram made up one combination, while Ryan Graves was paired with Conor Timmins and Jacob MacDonald was with Dennis Gilbert. Kyle Burroughs, Peyton Jones, Dan Renouf, Miikka Salomaki and T.J. Tynan are on Colorado's taxi squad.

INJURY UPDATE

Cale Makar was a game-time decision and took warmup but missed his second game of the season with an upper-body injury. Dennis Gilbert didn't play after the first period due to an injury. Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Jost and Kiefer Sherwood are expected to skate for the first time on Wednesday after being placed in COVID-19 protocol, while Samuel Girard will likely miss Colorado next game as he still needs to get cleared from his own COVID-related absence. Goaltender Hunter Miska was added to the league's COVID-19 protocol list on Monday. Matt Calvert (upper body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Erik Johnson (upper body) are all on injured reserve, but Calvert has resumed skating and a timeline for his possible return will likely be made later this week.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche and Golden Knights meet again on Saturday in Stateline, Nevada, for the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe. It will be the third of four straight games between the clubs, and the contest will be played on the 18th fairway of the Edgewood Tahoe Resort golf course, just off the south shore of largest alpine lake in North America. Game time is at 1 p.m. MT, and it will be televised nationally in the U.S. on NBC.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
20 Brandon Saad - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 37 J.T. Compher - 25 Logan O'Connor
12 Jayson Megna - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 15 Sheldon Dries
Defensemen
4 Bowen Byram - 7 Devon Toews
27 Ryan Graves - 22 Conor Timmins
34 Jacob MacDonald - 9 Dennis Gilbert
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
30 Adam Werner