A continuous offensive attack was not enough to override a tough second period for the Avalanche on Wednesday night.
In a late-night, nationally televised game at the Pepsi Center, the Los Angeles Kings overcame a large shots disadvantage to win 4-1 and snap the Avs’ modest two-game winning streak.
“We’re going to forget this one like we’ve been forgetting about our wins,” Avs forward Matt Duchene said.
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The defending Stanley Cup champions got 42 saves from goalie Jonathan Quick and two fortuitous bounces in the long-awaited first game of the season between the Western Conference rivals.
Jeff Carter’s redirection goal tied it 1-1, and the Kings took over with a three-goal second period.
“Our guys deserved better,” Avs coach Patrick Roy said. “Their goalie played really well. He made a lot of great saves. That’s part of the game sometimes.”
Colorado, which reached 40 shots for just the fifth time this season, allowed a late empty-net goal while playing short-handed.
The Avs outshot L.A. 12-7 en route to taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Colorado was playing well, and judging from its 30-17 shots advantage after two periods, you would think it would still be leading.
But despite being outshot 18-10 in the second period, the Kings got goals from Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown to take a 3-1 lead into the third. Carter scored on a redirection from Toffoli’s blast from the high slot. Toffoli struck by driving to the net with the puck and getting a fortunate bounce off goalie Semyon Varlamov’s right pad. And Brown made an easy shot on a back-door play set up by Drew Doughty on a delayed penalty.
Avs defensive pairing Jan Hejda and Zach Redmond and the Ryan O’Reilly-centered line with wingers Gabe Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon were minus-2 in the second period. Those five, however, got the Avs going early.
Landeskog scored 3:09 into the game to extend his career-high goals streak to four.
“Individually, it’s good to see the puck go in,” Landeskog said, “but there are chances that I can do more offensively, tipping puck on net and stuff. It’s something we’ll keep working on.”
Carter evened it just 1:16 into the second period, and the Kings took their lead five minutes later.
“I understand it’s frustrating, because that was a big game for us,” Roy said, “but at the same time I’m very happy with the effort. I’m very happy with how we competed. I’m happy with how we worked.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or
