MacKinnon extends point streak to 10, Avalanche top Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS --Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to extend his season-opening point streak to 10 games, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 6-1 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

MacKinnon (five goals, nine assists) became the first player in Avalanche history to start the season with a 10-game point streak. He began last season with a nine-game point streak (eight goals, seven assists).
"We've seen how much he can dominate games at times," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think what's impressive for me is, if you ask him how his game has been, he'd be happy with it, but not real happy with it. It's amazing you can start on a 10-game point streak] and not be at your best.
"That's a positive sign for me when he's able to contribute in ways, even in smaller ways away from the puck, and he's put an importance on that."
***[WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Golden Knights highlights]*
Nazem Kadri and Matt Calvert each scored twice, and Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves for the Avalanche (8-1-1).

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a goal and two assists in his first game against his former team. Bellemare, who signed a two-year contract with Colorado on July 1, spent the past two seasons with Vegas after he was selected in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft from the Philadelphia Flyers.
It was Bellemare's first three-point game in the NHL (395 games).

"I was just excited to see the people," Bellemare said. "I had two good years here, and I have no bad words about the organization. It's not goodbye. It was just the way it was, and I have nothing negative to say."
William Karlsson scored for the Golden Knights (7-5-0), who are 3-3-0 in their past six games. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 26 shots before being pulled for the first time this season. Garret Sparks made 12 saves in his Vegas debut.

"A humbling game, for sure," Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said. "They took it to us for 60 minutes in our own barn. It's tough. Back to work. They beat us to most pucks tonight, and they were dominant. They're a good team, and we have a long ways to go."
Bellemare scored off a turnover 28 seconds into the game to give Colorado a 1-0 lead.
"Everything went my way," Bellemare said. "The puck was like a magnet. It felt like it stayed with me. I fired it, and it was in the net, and I was like, 'What the heck just happened?' It was a good game from me."
Karlsson tied it 1-1 at 18:30 of the first on a one-timer, but Kadri scored 43 seconds later to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 19:13.
Cale Makar scored his first NHL regular-season goal at 7:55 of the second period to make it 3-1; he scored in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Calgary Flames on April 15.

Kadri scored his second of the game on the power play at 10:11 to make it 4-1.
Calvert scored to make it 5-1 at 15:50 of the second period and 6-1 at 17:58 of the third with a shorthanded goal.

They said it

"We have a good group that plays the right way. We can be a really dangerous team, and every line can roll. When you have that right away, that helps because every night, each line can take over and play different teams. It's good to have."-- Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
"There wasn't a lot of effort tonight. I don't even know where to start. It was an embarrassing game from our group. They were so much faster than us, quicker than us. After the first period, it was 2-1. It shouldn't have been that. It should've been 5-1. They took the foot off the gas and gave us a chance, [they] didn't want to embarrass us. To a man, we've got to look in the mirror and say, 'is that our hockey team?'" -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant

Need to know

MacKinnon is the sixth player in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to have a 10-game point streak to start the season. Wendel Clark, Joe Sakic, Michel Goulet, Peter Stastny and Mats Sundin are the others, all for Quebec. … Avalanche forward J.T. Compher had an assist in his first game replacing Mikko Rantanen on the top line. Rantanen is week to week with a lower-body injury. … Kadri had his 23rd multigoal game in the NHL. … Golden Knights forward Mark Stone's point streak ended at seven games (four goals, four assists). … Fleury was 4-0-2 in his previous six starts against the Avalanche, allowing two goals or fewer in four of them. ... Colorado finished one win shy of the franchise record through the first 10 games of the season (9-1-0 in 1994-95 and 2013-14).

What's next

Avalanche: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, KCOP-13, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights:Host the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, PRIME, NHL.TV)