LOS ANGELES (AP) — Devon Toews scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, Martin Necas added an empty-netter to go with two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Monday night.
Toews got free in the slot and converted Nathan MacKinnon’s pass with 4:55 remaining to help the Avalanche (40-10-9) become the first NHL team with 40 wins this season.
MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves for Colorado, which has won five of seven.
Brandt Clarke had a power-play goal, Angus Booth scored in his NHL debut, and Anton Forsberg made 35 saves for the Kings, who were playing their first game since firing coach Jim Hiller on Sunday and replacing him on an interim basis with D.J. Smith.
Los Angeles was also missing seven key players because of injury or illness, including medalists from the Olympic hockey tournament at the Milan Cortina Games in defenseman Drew Doughty, forward Joel Armia and goalie Darcy Kuemper. Those absences led to the Kings giving three players their NHL debuts in Booth, center Kenny Connors and winger Jared Wright.
The Avalanche capitalized early, scoring twice in the opening 10:13 on one-timers from MacKinnon and Landeskog, before Los Angeles responded with a power-play goal from Clarke late in the first period.
An early whistle wiped out Necas putting in a rebound early in the second, and Booth got to the top of the crease to tip in Brian Dumoulin’s centering pass to tie it 2-all at 8:32.
Avalanche: Visit the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Kings: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday.
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