Valeri Nichushkin scored the decisive goal in the third period, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
Nichushkin’s goal extended Colorado’s lead to two. Although Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson quickly narrowed the deficit, Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made eight crucial saves in the final moments to secure the win. Georgiev finished with 34 saves, helping Colorado rebound from a home loss to Seattle the previous night.
“The guys did a great job; whatever they did to prepare, they came out really strong from the first period,” said Georgiev. “And that definitely helps when we’re ready to play like that. Everybody’s in good shape, yeah, fun game to win today.”
Nathan MacKinnon and Evan Rodrigues also scored for the Avalanche.
Jonathan Marchessault scored for the Golden Knights, and Logan Thompson made 22 saves.
Despite playing their third game in four nights — and fourth in six across three cities — the Avalanche showed no signs of fatigue, maintaining high energy throughout all three periods.
“Obviously, we don’t get to pick the schedule,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “But yeah, it’s been crazy. We’ve had two back-to-backs already where we’re getting in late and playing with a rested team the next day, so it is what it is. For us, it’s a good challenge, and that’s kind of the way that we look at it.”
The Avalanche opened the scoring when MacKinnon one-timed a feed from Makar from the top of the circle through traffic, beating Thompson.
Marchessault tied the game on a power play late in the first period, sending a backhanded pass from Mark Stone past Georgiev. The assist was Stone’s 300th career point, and he later assisted on Stephenson’s goal for his 301st.
Rodrigues restored Colorado’s lead early in the second period with a power-play goal, a one-time slap shot from the left circle that beat Thompson off the post.
“They’re a talented hockey club, that’s why they just won the Stanley Cup,” Thompson said. “It’s slow, rocky right now. This loss stings, but we’ll go back and build off it; it’s a long season.”
The road team has now won five consecutive regular-season meetings between these teams.
Given that the Golden Knights were the last team to eliminate the Avalanche from the playoffs in 2021, Makar emphasized the importance of winning in Vegas.
“Obviously, we lost every game in this building, so every time I come here, that’s all I think about,” Makar said.
Game Notes
- Defenseman Erik Johnson played his 660th game for the Avalanche, surpassing Cody McLeod for eighth place on the franchise list.
- Samuel Girard’s assist on Rodrigues’ goal moved him past Alexei Gusarov (121) for ninth place among franchise defensemen in career assists.
- Colorado capitalized on both power-play opportunities, improving to 9 for 17 (52.9%) — the best in the NHL.
- Colorado’s defensemen have combined for 19 points (4 goals, 16 assists) this season, second only to Pittsburgh.
- The Golden Knights have scored nine first-period goals in their last four games.
UP NEXT
- Colorado: At New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
- Vegas: Hosts Toronto on Monday night.