Rapid Recap: Kings 4, Avalanche 2

The Colorado Avalanche scored the first two goals of the game but fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at Staples Center.
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist in the first period and Drew Doughty and Gabriel Vilardi each scored on the power play in the second period for Los Angeles to tie the game at 2-2 at the second intermission.

Adrian Kempe tallied in the third before Blake Lizotte sent the puck into an empty net. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.
Hunter Miska made his first NHL start and made 23 saves on 26 shots while defenseman Bowen Byram made his NHL debut and had a shot on goal in 11:19 of ice time.
Colorado finishes its first back-to-back of the season on Friday at the Anaheim Ducks.
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THE GOALS

1st Period
4:49 COL (1-0) - Nathan MacKinnon carried the puck into the offensive zone and skated it around the Los Angeles defenders, and Mikko Rantanen finished the play by scoring his third goal of the season.
19:15 COL (2-0) - PPG, Nathan MacKinnon skated into the left circle and scored with a wrist shot on the power play.
2nd Period
3:35 LAK (2-1) - PPG, Drew Doughty scored from the top of the right circle while the Kings had a 5-on-3 power play.
17:50 LAK (2-2) - PPG, Gabriel Vilardi tied the game with a shot that caromed off Hunter Miska's mask and into the goal.
3rd Period
16:04 LAK (2-3) - Anze Kopitar passed the puck into the slot and Adrian Kempe tapped it into the Colorado net.
19:18 LAK (2-4) - ENG, Blake Lizotte scored into an empty net.
Final: Kings - 4 | Avalanche - 2

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 1 for 4
Los Angeles: 2 for 5

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Hunter Miska made his first career NHL start and stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced.
Los Angeles: Jonathan Quick allowed two goals on 26 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon's power-play goal in the first period was the 58th man-advantage tally of his career, giving him sole possession of sixth place all-time in franchise history.
MacKinnon also had an assist in the contest, recording multiple points in a regular-season game for the 135th time in his NHL career, which trails only Joe Sakic (182) and Michel Goulet (172) for the most among Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques players under 26 years old.

NOTEBOOK

Mikko Rantanen tallied for the third game in a row, tying his goal-streak record. He has now scored in three-straight contests five times in his career… Rantanen (three goals, two assists) and Nathan MacKinnon (two goals, five assists) have recorded at least a point in the past three games... Bowen Byram made his NHL debut and had a shot net net in 11:19 of ice time... Goaltender Hunter Miska made his first NHL start in net and made 23 saves on 26 shots...Greg Pateryn played his first game as a member of the Avalanche after being acquired by the club from the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday... It was the first half of a back-to-back for Colorado, the first of seven such sets. The Avalanche played 12 back-to-back games last season, finishing 9-3-0 in the first contest and 6-5-1 in the second.

BIG HIGHLIGHT

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

ROSTER REPORT

Hunter Miska made his first NHL start and Philipp Grubauer served as his backup after starting the first three games of the season. On defense, rookie Bowen Byram made his NHL debut and was paired with Greg Pateryn, who was playing his first game with the Avs after the team acquired him on Tuesday. Colorado once again used an 11-forwards, seven-defensemen lineup, with Ryan Graves serving as the seventh defenseman. Samuel Girard and Conor Timmins made up the second D-pair, with the Devon Toews and Cale Makar duo remaining intact. Erik Johnson did not play as he continues to improve his conditioning after missing all of training camp and the first two games of the season while recovering from the coronavirus.

INJURY UPDATE

Forward Andre Burakovsky (upper body) participated in the optional morning skate on Thursday and remains day-to-day. Goaltender Pavel Francouz is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury that he suffered in practice on Monday.

UP NEXT

Colorado concludes its first back-to-back of the season on Friday at the Anaheim Ducks. The Avs then wrap up their four-game road trip at the Ducks on Sunday.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
20 Brandon Saad - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 72 Joonas Donskoi
11 Matt Calvert - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Defensemen
7 Devon Toews - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 22 Conor Timmins
4 Bowen Byram - 5 Greg Pateryn
27 Ryan Graves
Goaltenders
32 Hunter Miska
31 Philipp Grubauer