Avalanche 4-1 Hockey Club (December 27, 2024) Game Recap

SALT LAKE CTIY – Artturi Lehkonen scored three goals, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 34 shots and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Utah Hockey Club 4-1 on Friday night.

Mikko Rantanen also scored a goal and Nathan MacKinnon had three assists for Colorado, which has won four straight.

Blackwood has four wins in five starts since acquiring from San Jose on Dec. 9. On Friday, he signed a five-year, $26.5 million contract extension with the Avalanche.

Nick Schmaltz scored for Utah, which has lost eight of its last nine home games. Karel Vejmelka finished with 33 saves.

After a scoreless first period, Colorado struck first when Lehkonen tapped the puck into the net off a push from MacKinnon with 8:08 left in the second period.

Utah finally got on the field when Schmaltz scored the tying power play at 3:42 of the third period on a Mikhail Sergachev shot up the middle.

Lehkonen answered with 5:16 left when he tapped the puck around Vejmelka’s outstretched skate. Mikko Rantanen and Lehkonen made it 1-0 with two empty nets in the last two minutes.

Takeaways

Avalanche: Aggressive attacks from Colorado kept Utah’s defense on its toes most of the game.

Utah: The inability to generate early scoring opportunities offset Utah’s strong defensive performance early in the game. In the second period alone, Utah only shot on goal seven times.

Key moment

Schmaltz gave Utah a chance to take its first lead on a power play, but Lehkonen gave Colorado the lead with his second tap-in goal from close range.

Key statistics

Colorado improved to 16-0 this season when it held a lead early in the third period.

Next

Avalanche hosts Winnipeg on Tuesday while Utah visits Seattle on Monday.

——

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl