*Photo from the Star Herald*
After the celebration, it was time to play hockey. Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals, Artturi Lehkonen had a 3 point game, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night in Denver.
The night started with the raising of the Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters at Ball Arena. After that, the Avalanche seemingly controlled the game, doing most of their damage on the power play. Lehkonen had two goals and an assist, and Nichushkin added two goals to the equation.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said that there was "Real good commitment and determination tonight. It's good to see. Checking game looked good. We were getting in and out of our zone, arriving in D-zone coverage really well, and getting clean breakouts. The offensive zone play helped, I think. When you're hanging onto the puck and you're able to get moving and shooting a little bit, you're going to spend more time there."
Not to be lost in the shuffle is the contributions of Mikko Rantanen. He assisted on all 4 Avalanche power play goals, giving him 4 power play points. That is tied for the most power play points in a season opener, bringing him even with Mario Lemieux, Chris Chelios, Al MacInnis, and Jean Beliveau.
The first period saw the Avalanche strike first. Andrew Cogliano gave them a 1-0 lead 13:44 into the game, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews for Colorado's only even strength goal. Jonathan Toews got the Blackhawks on the board with a power play goal, but Nichushkin added a power play goal of his own to make it 2-1 Avalanche after one period.
In the second period, Lehkonen scored for the Avalanche, making the lead 3-1 just 3:49 into the period, assisted by Rantanen and MacKinnon. At the 10:12 mark of the second, Lehkonen struck again, making it 4-1 on his second goal of the night, with Rantanen and Cale Makar getting assists.
Early in the 3rd period, the Blackhawks got on the board again. Max Domi scored on the power play 1:51 into the final frame, cutting the deficit to 4-2 with assists from Tyler Johnson and Patrick Kane. On the power play at the 17:03 mark of the 3rd, Nichushkin scored his second goal of the night to make it a 5-2 game.
Rantanen said after the game that "I think we had a good jump. I think our first two periods, especially, were really good. We played really good hockey. We were fast. We were staying on the pucks, reloading, and defending really well."
The opening night starter for the Avalanche was newly acquired Alexandar Georgiev. He picked up the win in his debut, stopping 15 out of the 17 shots the Blackhawks got on net, recording a .882 save percentage with the low shot volume.
Starting for the Blackhawks was Petr Mrazek, also making his debut with a new team. Mrazek wasn't as lucky as Georgiev, saving only 30 of the 35 shots he was tasked with stopping, posting a .857 save percentage in the season opening loss.
Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said of the game that "I thought the first and the third were really good. I thought the second, I thought we felt the heat, and I thought our focus got lost a little bit. Overall, I think the guys fought until the end, and that's all we can ask for. But we definitely have to demand more of ourselves."
Up next, both teams get back in action with the second end of a back to back on Thursday night. The Avalanche travel to face the Calgary Flames, with Pavel Francouz likely to start. Alex Stalock figures to start for the Blackhawks as they take on the Vegas Golden Knights.
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