Nathan MacKinnon scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche came from behind to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 on Tuesday night.
MacKinnon also had an assist, while the Avalanche got goals from Joel Kiviranta, Logan O’Connor, and Artturi Lehkonen. Lehkonen’s goal at 15:38 of the third period turned out to be the game-winner, completing a four-goal period for Colorado as they erased a 4-0 deficit.
Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on eight shots before being replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who stopped all 22 shots he faced.
Tage Thompson started the scoring for Buffalo, getting a rebound goal at 3:22 of the first period, which the Avalanche unsuccessfully challenged. Thompson added a second goal shortly after, at 6:39, assisted by Jason Zucker.
Buffalo’s offense kept rolling when JJ Peterka scored just 11 seconds after Thompson’s second goal, assisted by Zach Benson. Beck Malenstyn then added another goal at 11:10 with a perfect pass from Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
The Avalanche responded by changing goalies, with Georgiev replaced by Wedgewood. MacKinnon scored Colorado’s first goal at 2:24 of the second period, taking advantage of a giveaway and firing a shot under the crossbar.
Colorado started their comeback early in the third period when Kiviranta scored off a rebound to make it 4-2. O’Connor followed up with another rebound goal at 15:30 to make it 4-3, and MacKinnon tied it up with a tip-in of Mikko Rantanen’s shot at 12:21.
