SALT LAKE CITY — DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period on a power play, Scott Wedgewood made 31 saves and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Utah Mammoth 2-1 on Thursday night.
Ross Colton also scored for the Avalanche, who followed a 4-1 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday with a successful home opener. Colorado is starting its 30th season since relocating from Quebec in 1995.
Dylan Guenther scored for Utah in its first regular-season game as the Mammoth. Guenther had a team-high seven shots on goal, including a breakaway that Wedgewood stopped.
Utah pulled goaltender Karel Vejmelka with more than a minute remaining but couldn’t score the tying goal. Vejmelka made 23 saves.
MacKinnon took a pass from Cale Makar and lined a shot into the upper corner of the net with 17:08 remaining. The fast-skating MacKinnon led the NHL in home scoring last season with 68 points (21 goals, 47 assists).
Guenther tied it at 1 with 2:12 remaining in the second period. He sent a shot from inside the blue line on a power play that tied up Wedgewood. Guenther led Utah with 12 power-play goals last season.
A precision passing display by the Avalanche's third line got them on the board in the first period. Victor Olofsson sent a pass across the ice to Jack Drury, who sent it back to Colton for the score.
Defenseman Dmitri Simashev was one of five players who made their Mammoth debut Thursday. Simashev, the sixth overall pick in 2023, spent last season helping Lokomotiv Yaroslavl capture the KHL’s Gagarin Cup.
