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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers opened their season with a 3-2 win over Chicago on a third-period goal by Jesper Boqvist.
The Avalanche lead the Kings 4-0 in the third period, after the Penguins shut out the Rangers 3-0 behind two goals from Justin Brazeau. Follow live as The Athletic’s NHL writers cover all the action.
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P3 9:17 – Avalanche 4, Kings 0
Not even a minute into the powerplay, and Martin Necas rips a shot by Darcy Kuemper to make it 4-0.
Fans are starting to leave the arena. You just knew it was a matter of time before Colorado's prolific powerplay unit would strike.
Necas now has two goals tonight.
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Kings are unraveling here, that’s a very undisciplined penalty by Fiala. You can tell that the offensive frustration is setting in. From the Avs’ perspective, they’ve played a near-perfect game since about the midway point of the first period.
P3 10:00 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Halfway through the third period and the Avalanche maintain their three-goal lead.
Lots of powerplays in this frame. And yet no goals.
That’s just not close to good enough for the Kings’ top power-play unit. L.A.’s five-forward unit was so deadly down the stretch last year that it didn’t create much of anything on its first two opportunities. Joel Armia’s slot chance with the second unit was the only meaningful scoring chance they generated during those four total minutes of power-play time.
P3 13:20 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The Kings needed to take advantage of special teams to get back in this game. And they haven't.
It's another win for the Colorado penalty kill, who is 3-for-3 tonight.
P3 15:26 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Right after Colorado kills off the Brent Burns penalty, they commit another one. This time it's Cale Makar going off for hooking.
The Kings are back to the powerplay, where they are 0-for-2 tonight.
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P3 18:06 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The Kings get on the powerplay. Brent Burns takes a slashing penalty against Quinton Byfield.
Massive opportunity for L.A. to cut the deficit.
P3 18:36 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Arturri Lehkonen, who already has a goal tonight, nearly gets his second. He fires a shot in the slot but it's gobbled up by Darcy Kuemper.
P3 20:00 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The third period is underway with Colorado on the powerplay.
Love what I’ve seen from Scott Wedgewood in the preseason, and so far tonight.
He plays a simple, calm game. He stays in position, challenges and makes himself big, drops into butterfly and lets the puck hit him. He’s looked very under control.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he has a good workload this season. He and Blackwood should be a strong tandem.
Cale Makar and the Avalanche are off to a stellar start to the season …
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Through two periods, the Kings have already been outshot 6-2 and outscored 2-0 with Cody Ceci on the ice. Not a great start for L.A.’s new-look bottom-four defense.
What an excellent save by Scott Wedgewood near the end of that second period. Unlucky bounce for the Avs on a breakout led to Alex Turcotte alone all in front, and Wedgewood made his best stop of the night to preserve the three goal lead. You’d have to think that save severely diminishes L.A.’s chances of a third-period comeback.
P2 0:00 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Through 40 minutes, the Colorado Avalanche lead by three goals. Martin Necas, Sam Malinski and Arturri Lehkonen were the goal scorers.
Colorado has 1:19 left of a powerplay to start the third period.
What an outrageous play by Cale Makar. He completely fooled Malott with the fake slapper at the point, danced into the slot, and created the high-danger chance that led to Lehkonen’s huge 3-0 insurance goal. Colorado’s superstars are singlehandedly taking this game over.
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P2 5:18 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The Colorado Avalanche continue to build their lead. Artturi Lehkonen buries the rebound off Darcy Kuemper to score.
Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon get the assists.
Colorado takes a three-goal advantage. An unlikely comeback attempt awaits for L.A.
P2 6:23 – Avalanche 0, Kings 0
Another powerplay, another successful kill for the Kings. Colorado is now 0-for-3 on the powerplay.
Not ideal for a team that has prolific scorers like Nathan MacKinnon.
That’s got to be a frustrating penalty for the Kings to take. L.A. finally sustained some offensive zone pressure the previous shift with the top line. You thought that might be the start of a pushback, but now the Avs’ top stars have a chance to put the game away if they convert on this powerplay.