The Aftermath: Necas, Wedgewood Lead Dominant Avalanche on Opening Night

Last season, the Avalanche got an opening night hat trick from Mikko Rantanen, but their goalies couldn’t stop the puck.

They replaced both goalies; they got Martin Necas in the Rantanen trade.

Fast-forward to Tuesday night. Necas instead was the highlight of their offense, opening the season with two goals, and goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves to lift Colorado to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena.

What a world of difference a year makes.

Necas scored the opening goal and added a second on the power play in the third period. It was a solid start to the year for a player the team hopes to unlock as a goalscorer.

Colorado’s other goals came from Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen.

After a scoreless first period, Necas’ first tally was set up by Nathan MacKinnon. The assist from MacKinnon put the 2024 Hart Trophy winner ahead of Joe Sakic on the all-time points list in Avalanche history. He finished with two helpers.

READ MORE: Nathan MacKinnon Surpasses Joe Sakic for Most Points with Avalanche

Malinski added to the lead before the halfway mark, firing a shot from the left side of the ice that went past the traffic in front and goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Malinski’s tally held as the game winner. But Colorado didn’t stop there. Lehkonen put home a rebound off a beautiful play from Cale Makar to make it 3-0 and Necas wired one past Kuemper on the power play in the third to open a four-goal lead.

The Kings got one back on a 5-on-3 power play thanks to Kevin Fiala. Colorado took four minor penalties in the third period, killing off each one except for the two-man advantage.

What Worked

Wedgewood Held it Down

Until about three weeks ago, it wasn’t in the plans for Wedgewood to be the opening night starter. But Colorado’s backup held it down between the pipes, building off his excellent season after the trade from Nashville last November.

Wedgewood made some solid saves in a low-event first period, and followed it up with a huge stop on Alex Turcotte late in the second period. In the third, he was tested often, especially on the PK, and continued to give his team every opportunity to breathe easy until the final buzzer sounded.

Aside from Fiala’s tally on the two-man advantage, nothing was going to break through Colorado’s netminder. He had 11 saves in the first two periods before adding another 13 in the final frame.

It never truly felt like L.A. was ever back in the game despite the late push.

Necas Was Oozing With Confidence

It’s crazy to watch a game like this and then realize that Necas’ career-high in goals in a single season is only 28. He was oozing with confidence with the puck on his stick, and should probably shoot the puck a lot more than he’s used to.

He finishes with three shots, two goals, and likely added a few more digits to his next contract. If the coaching staff can continue to unlock his goal scoring abilities, then the front office is probably looking at an even bigger ask from the pending unrestricted free agent.

But it would be worth it. We often forget that Necas, like Rantanen, had to acclimate himself to a new team, structure, and city in the middle of the season.

What Didn’t

Power Play Still Getting Figured Out

The power play actually did get one in the third period, and it only took five seconds. Brock Nelson won a faceoff back to Makar, who sent it to Necas on the right side, and he put it past Kuemper with ease.

But before and after those five seconds, the PP didn’t look all that inspiring. And it’s fine, they have 81 games to figure it out and Dave Hakstol just got here. Regardless, they’ll have to be better, especially in games where they’re in need of a big goal.

If there’s a bright side to this, it’s that things seemed to get better as the game went on. But I’m still not sure if they have the right combination. They’ll probably need to test out some things.

Should Lehkonen be on the top unit ahead of Valeri Nichushkin or Gabe Landeskog? Is Nelson the right choice for the left shot along the right wall? What if Victor Olofsson can play that role?

It’s weird to talk about them having options given how the past few years have gone. But I’m curious to see how they move forward on Thursday. The Avs aren’t practicing Wednesday, which means their next on-ice session will be morning skate ahead of the home opener.

Those pregame skates are often heavy with special teams practice.