Martin Nečas, one day after signing a massive contract extension, was the best player on the ice for the Avalanche as they took down the Vegas Golden Knights.
Rivalry games are rarely kind to the Colorado Avalanche, yet this one unfolded rather nicely during spooky season.
Colorado dispatched the Vegas Golden Knights 4–2 on Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena, powered by a commanding territorial performance, a solid penalty kill, and standout showings from Martin Nečas and Cale Makar. Nečas—Colorado’s newly minted franchise investment after signing an eight-year, $92 million extension on Thursday—authored a three-point performance and opened the scoring less than a minute in. Brent Burns netted his first goal in an Avalanche sweater, Makar added a goal and an assist, and Scott Wedgewood delivered a 22-save outing to secure the win.
Although the Avalanche spent much of the afternoon flirting with danger by repeatedly marching to the penalty box, the consequences proved far lighter than expected. Vegas’s power-play unit—typically one of its most reliable weapons—never found its rhythm. Through their first three opportunities, the Golden Knights mustered only a single shot on goal, and by game’s end they had generated six power plays with little to show for it beyond Hertl’s lone man-advantage tally.
For Vegas, their other goal came at the hands of Mitch Marner, who posted his second goal of the year. Carl Lindbom, in his second career NHL start between the pipes, made 22 saves for the Golden Knights.
First Period
41 seconds into the game, Nečas one-timed a cross-ice feed from Makar at the left circle to give the Avalanche a 1–0 lead.
Five minutes into the game, the Golden Knights still had not recorded a shot, while the Avalanche already had five, including Nečas’s opener.
Colorado’s penalty kill, the second-best in the NHL, got some work midway through the period after Jack Drury was sent to the box. But the Golden Knights, who entered the contest with one of the league’s most efficient power plays, couldn’t do anything about it.
Second Period
Gabriel Landeskog took a penalty early in the period for hooking Hertl. The Avs killed the penalty, and moments later Drury forced a turnover at center ice and sprung Nelson on a clean breakaway. Nelson snapped a shot short-side past Lindbom to extend Colorado’s lead to 2–0.
With six minutes remaining in the frame, Zach Whitecloud headed to the box after bear-hugging Landeskog near the end boards. Although Landeskog retaliated with an elbow, it was Whitecloud who got hit for holding, sending Colorado to the power play.
The Avalanche then found themselves shorthanded for the fourth time after Parker Kelly was called for slashing Cole Reinhardt. Once again, the Golden Knights failed to convert—looking increasingly disjointed. Through four power plays, Vegas mustered only three shots on goal, a testament to Colorado’s structure.
Third Period
Penalty trouble continued to haunt Colorado. Burns was penalized for the second time after tripping Hertl, and Devon Toews was called for hooking Jack Eichel, giving Vegas a critical 5-on-3 advantage.
The Avs finally paid the price nearly three minutes into the period when Hertl slipped one past Wedgewood from the slot. Because Vegas had taken a penalty moments earlier—Pavel Dorofeyev was called for holding Brock Nelson’s stick—the goal officially went down as a 4-on-3 power-play marker.
Burns answered with his first goal in an Avalanche sweater with 9:45 left in regulation. Nečas danced through traffic along the left wing, surveyed his options, and delivered a perfect feed to Burns, who hammered a laser past Lindbom to make it 3–1.
Marner pulled Vegas back within one when his shot from the slot deflected off Burns’s stick and slipped just under the crossbar. But the Golden Knights couldn’t translate the bounce into sustained momentum. Makar capped the night with an empty-net goal, securing the Avalanche’s 4–2 victory.
Next Game
The Avalanche (7-1-4) have another quick turnaround. They head to San Jose to square off against the Sharks (3-6-2) on Saturday at SAP Center. However, the Sharks are coming off a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils entering the contest. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. local time.
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