Our live thread for this evening.
DENVER — We're live from Ball Arena.
First Period
Jack Drury capitalized on a rebound off the boards following an initial shot from Parker Kelly, giving the Avalanche a 1–0 lead.
Calgary quickly ran into penalty trouble when Brayden Pachal was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after a scrum. Moments later, Blake Coleman was whistled for slashing after breaking Martin Nečas’ stick, handing Colorado a 5-on-3 power play.
Nazem Kadri struck just 23 seconds into the advantage to make it 2–0. With about a minute remaining on Coleman’s penalty, Kadri buried a rebound off a Brock Nelson one-timer to extend the lead to 3–0—his second goal of the night, second of the period, and second on the power play.
Just 1:42 later, Gabriel Landeskog slipped a shot through the five-hole to push the lead to 4–0, prompting Flames head coach Ryan Huska to pull his starting goaltender in favor of Devin Cooley.
Colorado’s onslaught continued late in the period. With 5:10 remaining, Parker Kelly tipped a Cale Makar point shot through Cooley’s five-hole, capping a five-goal first period for the Avalanche.
After 20 minutes, Colorado held a commanding 5–0 lead and torched Calgary in every category. The Avalanche also outshot the Flames 26-8.
Notably, the Avalanche’s fourth line played a major role in the outburst, showcasing the team’s depth by scoring two of the four goals in the frame.
Second Period
Calgary got on the board at the 3:37 mark when Brennan Othmann, a recent call-up from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, beat Scott Wedgewood to make it a 5–1 game. The goal came after a turnover by Sam Malinski, as Flames forward John Beecher wrapped the puck around the net and found Othmann in the slot.
Brett Kulak was later sent to the box for high-sticking Yegor Sharangovich, giving Calgary its first power play of the night, but Colorado successfully killed it off.
Late in the period, Zach Whitecloud was called for tripping Gabriel Landeskog as he drove to the net, sending the Avalanche back to the man advantage. Nathan MacKinnon capitalized, blasting his 49th goal of the season on a one-timer off a clean feed from Cale Makar to extend the lead to 6–1. It marked Colorado’s third power-play goal of the night.
After two periods, the Avalanche held a 6–1 lead and a 33–16 advantage in shots on goal.
Third Period
Cale Makar is not on the bench to start the third period in what could potentially be a devastating development. He had three points in the opening two frames.
Despite the absence of Makar, Necas one-timed a shot from the right circle off a pass from MacKinnon from behind the net to make it a 7-1 game at 6:24.
Then 1:46 later, Kelly fed Sam Malinski as he streaked into the zone and Malinski went forehand backhand to beat Cooley to make it an 8-1 game.
As that happened, the Avalanche announced that Makar would not return to the game after suffering an upper-body injury.
Ryan Strome scored to make it 8-2 and Artturi Lehkonen finished off a 9-2 win for the Avs.
