DENVER — One streak ended, another rolled on.
The Colorado Avalanche halted the Tampa Bay Lightning’s five-game surge with a gritty 3–2 victory at Ball Arena, powered by Victor Olofsson’s two goals and a solid defensive game.
The Avs bounced back from a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday with another 3-2 game, except this one had a W at the end of it.
Ross Colton scores to make it a 3-1 game early in the second period.
Colorado survived a shaky start before building a lead and ultimately holding onto it. Ross Colton also scored and Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to seven games, one shy of the team season-high.
Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots in defeat.
First Period
The Avalanche opened the game with their third line on the ice, and within the opening moments, Gabe Landeskog unleashed a wrist shot from the left circle that was turned aside by Vasilevskiy.
Just 1:38 into the contest, the Lightning struck first. Cale Makar mishandled the puck behind his own net, and Kucherov pounced on the miscue, wrapping it around and tucking it past Scott Wedgewood to give Tampa Bay an early 1–0 advantage.
Roughly six minutes later, tensions boiled over as Landeskog dropped the gloves with defenseman Charles-Édouard D’Astous. The bout was one-sided—Landeskog landed a flurry of short, punishing right hands before finishing D’Astous with a decisive shot that sent him tumbling to the ice.
Moments after the fight, Pontus Holmberg was sent to the penalty box for interference following a collision with Brock Nelson. Despite Holmberg’s protests, the call stood, handing Colorado their first power play of the evening. However, the Avalanche failed to capitalize, as Vasilevskiy and the Lightning’s penalty killers held firm.
Tampa Bay’s discipline wavered again with just under six minutes remaining in the frame, as they were assessed a too many men on the ice penalty. This time, Colorado made them pay. MacKinnon fired a cross-crease pass that deflected off Vasilevskiy’s glove, and Olofsson, stationed in the slot, buried the rebound to knot the score at 1–1.
Olofsson’s night turned more complicated late in the period when he was called for tripping Kucherov with 2:26 left. That set up a high-stakes clash between one of the league’s most lethal power plays and one of its most disciplined penalty-killing units. Colorado’s PK unit rose to the occasion, stifling Tampa’s attack and even generating some shorthanded pressure.
There was a tense moment late in the Lightning power play when Devon Toews inadvertently redirected a point shot toward his own goaltender, but Wedgewood reacted brilliantly to smother the puck. The first period came to a close with the score deadlocked at 1–1, both teams trading momentum in a fast-paced, technical opening 20 minutes.
Second Period
Just 4:08 into the second period, Olofsson struck again, netting his second goal of the night to put Colorado ahead 2–1. The sequence began with Landeskog, who slipped a pass from the left circle to Jack Drury in the slot. Drury’s one-timer attempt was mishit, the puck glancing awkwardly off his stick—but the miscue worked in Colorado’s favor. The loose puck rolled perfectly to Olofsson, who ripped a one-timer past Vasilevskiy, leaving the goaltender with no chance.
Barely a minute later, the Avalanche extended their lead. Sam Malinski spotted Colton streaking down the left wing and threaded a perfect stretch pass through the neutral zone. Colton drove hard to the net and finished with a slick backhander over Vasilevskiy’s glove, marking his second goal of the season and giving Colorado a 3–1 cushion.
With just over three minutes remaining in the frame, the Avalanche earned another power play opportunity when Victor Hedman was called for tripping Martin Nečas. The infraction sent Nečas crashing into the net, and Hedman was assessed a two-minute minor. Colorado’s man advantage went to work once again, looking to further widen the gap before intermission.
Third Period
While the Avalanche entered this game tied with the Montreal Canadiens for the best record in the NHL, the Avs have had a tendency to allow teams back in games while they were dictating the pace and controlling, nearly quoted verbatim from Devon Toews’ comments last week, but how did the Avs look entering the third with a 3-1 lead?
The final period kicked off with a penalty when Brock Nelson was busted for high-sticking Erik Cernak. Nelson was also lucky not to get penalized for holding moments before, so either way you slice it, the Avs were probably deserving of going on the penalty kill.
Colorado killed the penalty, but the Lightning found a way to score anyway when Brayden Point drove the puck into the Avs’ zone and fired a backhander by Wedgewood to make it a one-goal game.
Tampa’s momentum fell just short in a thrilling finish. Despite mounting pressure in the final minutes, the Avalanche managed to stave off the Lightning’s attempts, securing a narrow 3-2 victory. The contest was razor-close down the stretch, but the Avalanche’s defensive resilience ultimately allowed them to break Tampa’s five-game winning streak and claim the hard-fought win.
Next Game
The Avalanche (8-1-5) don’t play again until Saturday when they take on Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. local time.
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