Arturri Lehkonen marked his season debut with a go-ahead power-play goal. At the same time, Nathan MacKinnon recorded five assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
Mikko Rantanen contributed two goals, and Ivan Ivan, Nikolai Kovalenko, and Chris Wagner each scored to help the Avalanche break a three-game losing skid. Cale Makar had two assists before exiting in the second period with an injury; he briefly returned in the third but could not continue.
“Cale tweaked something in the second and couldn’t go on,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
Both MacKinnon and Makar extended their season-opening point streaks to 13 games. Lehkonen’s appearance was his first since offseason shoulder surgery.
Seattle’s goals came from Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz, and Brandon Montour.
Lehkonen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at 6:44 of the second period, courtesy of a pass from MacKinnon, positioning him to fire a slapshot past Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer. Rantanen followed with a second power-play goal at 9:11. Seattle coach Dan Bylsma’s offside challenge was unsuccessful after a prolonged video review.
Takeaways
Kraken: Seattle’s record against Colorado slipped to 3-7-1 over their last 11 regular-season matchups.
Avalanche: Goalie Justus Annunen made 17 saves and has been in net for five of Colorado’s six wins this season.
Key Moment
Lehkonen’s crucial goal came in his first game of the season, strengthening a Colorado lineup facing several injuries. His return bolstered a forward group missing Ross Colton, Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Drouin, and suspended Valeri Nichushkin.
Key Stat
MacKinnon and Makar now hold the NHL’s longest active point streak.
Up Next
Seattle returns home to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.
Colorado heads to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Thursday night.
