In Denver, the Colorado Avalanche began the defense of their 2022 Stanley Cup with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin struck for a pair of goals each in the win.
“Real good commitment and determination tonight. It’s good to see,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “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.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 15 saves in the Avs win.
Jonathan Toews and Max Domi were the Blackhawks strikers.
“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,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “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.”
The Avs took an early lead off a goal from Andrew Cogliano in the first period.
Toews tied it, 1-1, off a power play goal.
“It feels good to get on the board and get some confidence,” Toews said. “I think in a situation like this, in this game, you just want to go out there and make plays, and you can’t dwell on whether they go in or not. You just got to go out there and play your game.”
Nichushkin scored his first of the game to give the Avs a 2-1 lead. The goal came on the power play with just under three minutes left in the first period.
Lehkonen scored twice in the middle frame to push the Avs ahead, 4-1.Both strikes were on the power play.
“Some really nice passing plays. Guys [were] going to the net and hanging around the net,” Bednar said. “We score one off a point shot, we got two on the back door. Nice passes from Mikko. I thought the guys did a nice job taking care of the puck and still staying in attack mode.”
Domi got one back early in the third period on a power play hit for a 4-2 score, but Nichushkin picked up his double with another play goal in the third for the 5-2 final.
“It’s the first game, right? I think there’s some stuff we can work on, for sure, but it’s a [heck] of a hockey team over there,” Domi said. “[They’re] Stanley Cup champions, right? So you got to expect to be able to defend.”
Petr Mrazek made 30 saves in the Hawks loss.
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