Utah Mammoth at Colorado Avalanche
· National Hockey League
MacKinnon scores go-ahead goal early in 3rd, Avalanche beat Mammoth 2-1 in home opener
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 25 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.
Avalanche: Host Dallas on Saturday night in a rematch of a first-round series last season the Stars won in seven games.
Regular Season SeriesCOL leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 10:57 | Ross Colton Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Jack Drury (1), Victor Olofsson (1) |
 |
Goal | 2nd Period 17:48 | Dylan Guenther Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Clayton Keller (1), Nick Schmaltz (1) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 2:52 | Nathan MacKinnon Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Cale Makar (3), Martin Necas (1) |
Statistics
 UTA |
 COL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Blocked Shots | 13 |
| 19 | Hits | 20 |
| 0 | Takeaways | 4 |
| 33 | Shots | 27 |
| 1 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 3 | Power Play Opportunities | 4 |
| 33.3 | Power Play Percentage | 25.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 22 | Faceoffs Won | 50 |
| 30.6 | Faceoff Win Percent | 69.4 |
| 36 | Giveaways | 23 |
| 4 | Total Penalties | 3 |
| 8 | Penalty Minutes | 6 |
Colorado Avalanche Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Logan O'Connor, RW | Injured Reserve | Oct 21 |
| Mackenzie Blackwood, G | Out | Oct 20 |
| Joel Kiviranta, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 18 |
| Samuel Girard, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 12 |
| Ronnie Attard, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
Utah Mammoth Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Jack McBain, C | Day-To-Day | Oct 21 |
| Sean Durzi, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 17 |
| Anson Thornton, G | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Juuso Valimaki, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
| Terrell Goldsmith, D | Injured Reserve | Oct 6 |
