The Avalanche entered Thursday’s game at Los Angeles with the NHL’s most lethal power play, clicking at 47.1%. That number increased when Colorado scored on one of its two man-advantage opportunities to take a 2-0 lead, but in the end, the Avs lost the game because they lost the special teams comparison.
The Kings scored two power-play goals and Adrian Kempe completed the comeback by scoring the game-winning goal late in the third period as L.A. defeated the Avalanche 4-2 on to salvage a split of the two-game series at the Staples Center.
Blake Lizotte scored an empty-net goal in the final minute as the Kings (1-1-2) went on to win their first game of the season.
Colorado, which won the opener 3-2 on Tuesday, built a 2-0 lead in the finale before taking three costly penalties in the second period that led to two L.A. power-play goals.
“It starts with getting into some penalty trouble and giving them some momentum,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said of the Kings’ comeback. “Getting into penalty trouble definitely gave them a chance to come back in the game.”
Avalanche top-prospect Bo Byram, the first defenseman selected in the 2019 draft (fourth overall), made his NHL debut. The 19-year-old took a penalty on his first shift but played better as the game went on as his ice time increased.
It was also a special night for Avs goalie Hunter Miska, who made his first career start in his second career appearance in place of regular backup Pavel Francouz. Miska was the Avs’ fourth-string goalie in the Edmonton playoff bubble last year but has been impressive since training camp began.
“The injury to Francouz puts him in this position to get a start, but to be honest with you, he’s earned it,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said pregame of Miska, who signed with the Avs as a free agent in 2019. “He’s been fantastic from Day 1 of training camp.”
The Avs led 2-0 after the first period before the Kings stormed back behind two power-play goals — the first on a two-man advantage. L.A.’s comeback wasn’t any fault of Miska’s, although Bednar said he was a little deep in the crease on both goals.
Colorado’s Tyson Jost and Greg Pateryn took penalties within 39 seconds of each other early in the second period and Drew Doughty made them pay with a wrist shot that caromed in off the crossbar at 3:35. And at 17:30 of the period Gabriel Vilardi beat Miska with another wrist shot off iron while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was in the box for interference.
“I felt good in there,” Miska said. “I just allowed a couple goals that I thought I could have add. … Overall, I felt like I was pretty good, seeing the puck pretty well, but it wasn’t enough.”
Star center Nathan MacKinnon was Colorado’s main motor in the first period. He assisted on Mikko Rantanen’s goal 4:49 into the game and then scored a power-play goal in the last minute of the first period.
Miska is new to the NHL but he’s no stranger to playing in big games. He played one season of NCAA hockey for Minnesota-Duluth, and his final game was a 3-2 loss to the University of Denver in the 2017 national championship game. Miska signed with Arizona as an undrafted free agent and played two years in the Coyotes’ organization.
Philipp Grubauer, who backed up Miska against the Kings, is expected to start Friday’s game in Anaheim against the Ducks.
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Bo Byram, 19, made NHL debut and Hunter Miska started in goal for Avalanche Pateryn excited to be joining the Avalanche, ready for debut Nathan MacKinnon reaches 500 career points as Avalanche defeats L.A., improves to 2-1 WATCH: Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon gets 500th career point against Kings Avalanche defensive log-jam a good problem to have: “It’s a strength of our team”Footnotes. Pateryn made his debut with the Avs, who acquired him Tuesday for defenseman Ian Cole. … MacKinnon has produced a shot in 224 consecutive games, just three shy of Joe Sakic’s club record. … Winger Andre Burakovsky missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Bednar said Burakovsky was among those who participated in an optional skate Thursday but is not an option to play Friday. … The Avs entered the game outscoring their opponents 12-6, including 6-0 in the second period. Colorado outscored its last two opponents 11-0 until the Kings scored twice in the third period Tuesday. …The Avs’ Sam Girard has appeared in 224 consecutive regular-season games — third-longest by an Avs defenseman behind Martin Skoula (285) and Karlis Skrastins (226).
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