Barbashev gets 2 goals, 2 assists, Golden Knights top Avalanche in opener

LAS VEGAS – Ivan Barbashev had two goals and two assists for the Vegas Golden Knights in an 8-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

Jack Eichel had four assists, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists, and Shea Theodore had three assists for Vegas, which has won seven of its first eight season openers. Victor Olofsson scored twice in his debut after signing a one-year contract as a free agent on July 2, and Adin Hill made 28 saves.

“It’s fun playing with (Eichel and Stone),” Barbashev said. “It felt good. We got a lot of things to prove in the next couple of days, but you know, got a couple of goals and won the game, most importantly.”

Mikko Rantanen scored a hat trick, and Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Samuel Girard each had two assists for Colorado. Alexandar Georgiev allowed five goals on 16 shots before he was replaced by Justus Annunen, who allowed two goals on four shots.

“No question, the biggest issue was rush coverage and getting beat back up the ice on a couple of goals,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They scored four goals on the rush. … The number of scoring chances we gave up was not an issue. We did some good things throughout the course of the game. Every time we got ourselves back in the game, we made another mistake. And every mistake we made ended up in the back of our net.”

It was the season opener for each team.

Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 10:48 of the first period with a one-timer from above the left circle.

Olofsson tied it 1-1 just 27 seconds later when his wrist shot from a tight angle below the left circle beat Georgiev near side.

“I saw him cheating a little bit. I saw [Nicolas Roy] in front of the net, battling, and I thought the goalie was expecting a pass,” Olofsson said. “So I just tried to hit the net, and it went in.”

Barbashev put Vegas ahead 2-1 at 18:32 with a snap shot from the right circle.

Stone pushed it to 3-1 just 25 seconds later, finishing off a 2-on-1 rush with Eichel.

Rantanen cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 4:15 of the second, beating Hill with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.

Zach Whitecloud made it 4-2 at 5:49 with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

Casey Middlestadt brought Colorado within 4-3 at 17:32, putting in a rebound with a backhand at the right post.

“We did a lot of really good things in the game,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “It’s just one of those nights where every mistake we make, whether it was no back pressure or giving the middle of the ice in certain areas, they were capitalizing on it. When a team does that, it definitely makes it hard. Those are the little things in the game we have to clean up.”

Olofsson made it 5-3 at 19:46 with a wrist shot from the right circle on the power play.

“(The goal) was more patient in terms of not forcing a play,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We had good patience (on the power play). We still attacked. We didn’t force things that weren’t there. We had good shots to score, obviously.”

Rantanen completed his hat trick to cut it to 5-4 at 6:59 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play.

Stone pushed it to 6-4 at 8:29 with a redirection in front off Eichel’s one-timer on the power play.

“Every time they scored, we answered within a minute, minute and a half,” Stone said. “We got some key timely goals to push the momentum back in our way. If you’re going to win games consistently in this League, you’re going to have to win different ways.”

Barbashev extended the lead to 7-4 at 13:54 with a backhand off the rush.

Brett Howden scored an empty-net goal for the 8-4 final at 19:24.

“We needed (the offense) tonight,” Cassidy said. “Did I expect an 8-4 game tonight? Absolutely not. … We weren’t bad defensively tonight. I just think we gave up some bad plays and got a little tired running around.”

NOTES: Eichel and Barbashev became the third and fourth players, respectively, to tally three points for Vegas in a season opener. … MacKinnon tallied his 900th career point and became the seventh player to record a multiple-assist game in at least three consecutive season openers. … Rantanen scored his eighth season-opening goal, tying him with Peter Stastny for the third most in franchise history.