Olofsson scores twice, Avalanche cool off Lightning

DENVER -- Victor Olofsson scored twice for the Colorado Avalanche, who ended the Tampa Bay Lightning’s five-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

Ross Colton also scored, and Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to seven games with an assist for the Avalanche (8-1-5), who are 3-0-2 in their past five games. Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves.

“Pretty proud of our guys, because it seemed like it was a little bit of a grind tonight,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “I think [the Lightning] played a tight defensive game. I think we battled to try to get there. Just from talking with our guys, there's a lot of guys sort of fighting to try to find their legs tonight.

“I don't think we had our best jump, but we played with a real good conscience. We were committed on the defending side, we just weren't quite as quick on either side of the puck, offensively or defensively.”

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning (6-5-2). Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.

“It was good for a bit, and then we got in our own way. And when we get in our own way, it's usually going to be tough for us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “I loved our first period. It was unfortunate that [there were] untimely penalties. We took those tonight, but they were a better team for periods two and three. So, that was a little disappointing.”

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the first period. Cale Makar tried to rim the puck around the boards behind the net, but Kucherov was able to cut it off and jam it past the left toe of Wedgewood at the right post.

“Just turned my head at the wrong time and it gets stuck, caught in a jersey,” Wedgewood said. “I don't know where it is, but it's one of those mental things. You just got to lock in and give the guys a chance. We battled back, tied it up going to the first intermission, and I trust the guys to take over from there.”

Olofsson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 13:51 of the first. MacKinnon's initial shot in tight was stopped by Vasilevskiy, but he swatted the rebound across the crease, where a crashing Olofsson was able to knock it inside the right post.

“I saw Nate just kind of crashing the net, so I just followed up the play,” Olofsson. “It kind of came bouncing to me and just got a stick on it. So, yeah, it was nice to see that one go in.”

Olofsson scored again at 4:08 of the second period to make it 2-1. He one-timed the puck past the glove of Vasilevskiy after Jack Drury whiffed on his own one-timer from the left circle.

“I think from a player that we signed late in the offseason (Aug. 20), he's kind of been exactly what we were looking for,” Bednar said of Olofsson. “We know this is a guy that can shoot and he can score. He knows how to score, and he seems like he's getting a little confidence. Suddenly he's put up some goals here recently, and tonight he has a big night for us again which helps get us the win.”

Colton extended the lead to 3-1 on a breakaway at 5:21 of the second. He got behind Max Crozier, skated down the left wing and cut across the crease before tucking the puck past Vasilevskiy's left pad.

“I don't get enough breakaways to say that's a go-to [move],” Colton said. “Tried to freeze him a little bit, held onto it long enough. I think it hit the post and then got lucky that it hit his back skate and went in. So, I'll take whatever I can get.”

Point cut the lead to 3-2 at 3:32 of the third period. He skated into the offensive zone with speed, went wide around Devon Toews, and roofed a backhand short side over Wedgewood from the left circle.

“I thought the first was good. They had chances on the power play, but I thought 5-on-5 we were controlling a lot of the play,” Point said. “The second is [when] they kind of took over. We had a stretch there, I don’t know how long it was for those two goals, but that’s tough to come back from.”

NOTES: MacKinnon has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his point streak, the 25th of his career of at least seven games. Only Joe Sakic (35) has more in franchise history. ... Drury played in his 200th NHL game. ... Avalanche forward Tristen Nielsen played 5:25 in his NHL debut.