DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche opened the 2026-27 season with pure mayhem at Ball Arena, routing the Los Angeles Kings 8-4 in the first of 84 games. The high-scoring opener featured four Colorado power-play goals, two shorthanded goals allowed, and a rare Nathan MacKinnon fight against defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Colorado struck first on the power play, but it was the second unit that delivered as Brock Nelson deflected a rebound off Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper's mask and in. Los Angeles answered after generating momentum on its own power play, with defenseman Brian Dumoulin firing a shot through traffic past Mackenzie Blackwood to tie it. Parker Kelly restored the lead for Colorado with a breakaway strike just after a Kings penalty expired, sending the Avalanche into the first intermission up 2-1.
A five-on-three carried over into the second period and MacKinnon converted just 23 seconds in to make it 3-1. Joel Armia answered shorthanded for Los Angeles a minute later, beating Blackwood from distance. MacKinnon struck again and Nic Roy added another to push the lead to 5-2, though Roy's goal came with Jaden Schwartz lying in the crease and making contact with Kuemper on a play Los Angeles did not challenge. Trevor Moore pulled the Kings within 5-3 with their second shorthanded goal of the period, but Artturi Lehkonen responded from the slot on the same Colorado man advantage to make it 6-3 heading into the second intermission.
Los Angeles cut it to 6-4 midway through the third after a difficult shift for Josh Manson, who lost the puck and then took a penalty, with Artemi Panarin scoring from distance through traffic on the delayed penalty. MacKinnon then instigated a fight with Clarke and landed several rights with about 10 minutes remaining. Gabe Landeskog followed with his first goal of the season on a rebound after Cale Makar drove to the net, and Lehkonen added his second power-play goal with the second unit to seal the 8-4 final. Colorado finished 4-for on the power play while allowing two shorthanded goals, with the second unit accounting for three of the conversions. The Avalanche, playing a game that counted for the first time in September in franchise history, host the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m. MT on Saturday, October 3rd.