Artturi Lehkonen returned to the lineup and contributed a goal and an assist, while Nathan MacKinnon recorded five assists to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Seattle Kraken 6-3 in Denver on Tuesday night.
Lehkonen had been out for the first 12 games of the season recovering from shoulder surgery during the offseason.
Mikko Rantanen scored twice, Nikolai Kovalenko had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Ivan and Chris Wagner also found the net. Goaltender Justus Annunen stopped 17 shots for Colorado.
Cale Makar added two assists before leaving the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. For the Kraken, Matty Beniers and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist, Jaden Schwartz also scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves.
The Avalanche took an early lead just 2:28 into the game when Wagner scored his first goal of the season off a pass from MacKinnon.
The Kraken responded and tied the game at 12:58, when Beniers’ pass to the front of the crease hit Schwartz’s skate and went into the net for his third goal of the season.
Colorado regained the lead 1:14 later when Ivan scored off a rebound from Kovalenko’s shot, making it his third goal of the season.
The Kraken tied the game early in the second period on a power play. Just 23 seconds into the frame, the Avalanche turned the puck over, and Chandler Stephenson passed it to McCann in the slot. McCann beat Annunen through his pads for his sixth goal of the season.
Lehkonen put the Avalanche back in front at 6:44 with a powerful shot from the slot that trickled past Grubauer to make it 3-2. The lead was briefly reviewed after a challenge from Seattle. Rantanen had scored at 9:11, but Seattle argued that Lehkonen was offsides.
The review revealed that a shot by the Kraken had sent the puck down the ice, and the goal stood.
With just under three minutes left in the game, Grubauer was pulled for an extra skater. Beniers took advantage and scored his third goal of the season at 17:31 to make it 4-3. Seattle pulled Grubauer again, but Rantanen sealed the game with his sixth goal into the empty net.
Kovalenko added another goal for Colorado at 19:58 to finish the game 6-3.
