Overview
- Colorado beat Tampa Bay 6-3 at Ball Arena on Friday night, with Nathan MacKinnon recording a goal and three assists to power the victory.
- Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves and six different Avalanche players scored — Devon Toews, Nazem Kadri, Fedor Svechkov, Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas.
- Logan O'Connor made his season debut after a preseason lower-body injury and a personal leave following his father's death, and Taylor Makar was recalled to the Avalanche earlier the day.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 23 shots for Tampa Bay, Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Lightning, and Nikita Kucherov was held without a point and remains tied with Steven Stamkos at 1,137 franchise points.
- The result snapped Colorado’s two-game slide and ended Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak, shifting short-term momentum and leaving special teams and Kucherov’s franchise mark as things to watch next.