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National Hockey League
Colorado 6, Carolina 4
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 21, 2023
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Referees: Tom Chmielewski, Jordan Samuels-Thomas
Linesmen: Tyson Baker, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 18131

Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and three assists, Logan O'Connor scored a short-handed goal for the third straight game and added an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 in Denver on Saturday night.

Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan Johansen had a goal and assist each, Mikko Rantanen and Fredrik Olofsson also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 23 shots for Colorado, which improved to 5-0-0 on the season.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jaccob Slavin had a goal and an assist each, Brent Burns and Michael Bunting also scored, Stefan Noesen added two assists, and Pyotr Kochetkov had 22 saves for the Hurricanes.

Carolina was without center Sebastian Aho (upper-body injury) and goaltender Frederik Andersen (precautionary reasons).

The Hurricanes took the early lead when Kotkaniemi beat Georgiev in front of the net at 16:09 of the first period. It was Kotkaniemi's third goal of the season.

The Avalanche got the equalizer on the power play in the final moments of the first period when MacKinnon sent a pass to the front of the net and Johansen tipped it in at 19:54. It was his second goal of the season.

O'Connor gave Colorado a 2-1 lead on the penalty kill when he got the puck at center ice, skated in ahead of the defense and beat Kochetkov with a backhander at 1:57 of the second.

It was O'Connor's third of the season and tied Joe Sakic for the most consecutive games with a short-handed goal in Avalanche history.

The Hurricanes struck quickly after that. Burns tied it with a power-play goal at 9:17 of the second, his second of the season, and it snapped the Avalanche's streak of successful penalty kills at 19 to start the season.

Just 1:25 later, Bunting gave Carolina a 3-2 lead with his second of the season, but Olofsson tied it at 12:21 when he scored his first of the season and first with Colorado.

Lehkonen scored his second goal on the power play 1:49 later, MacKinnon got his third soon after and Rantanen's fourth of the season at 19:35 of the period made it 6-3.

Slavin's third goal of the season at 12:26 of the third got Carolina within two.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Carolina   Colorado
Jesperi Kotkaniemi 2 Points Artturi Lehkonen 4
Jesperi Kotkaniemi 1 Goals Artturi Lehkonen 1
Stefan Noesen 2 Assists Artturi Lehkonen 3
Brent Burns 1 Power Play Goals Artturi Lehkonen 1
N/A Short Handed Goals Logan O'Connor 1
Pyotr Kochetkov .778 Save Percentage Alexandar Georgiev .852
Pyotr Kochetkov 21 Saves Alexandar Georgiev 23
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Carolina 27 4 1-5 2-5 10 30
Colorado 27 6 3-5 4-5 10 32
Upcoming Games
  • Colorado will play their next game on the road against NY Islanders. The Avalanche have a W/L % of 1.000 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Carolina will play their next game on the road against Tampa Bay. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .500 after a loss.