MacKinnon’s Four-Point Night Leads Avalanche Past Lightning, 6–3

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, and the Colorado Avalanche answered each Tampa Bay push in a 6-3 win over the Lightning at Ball Arena on October 23, 2026. Martin Necas added a goal and two assists, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 of 34 shots.

Colorado led 3-0 early in the second period. Jake Guentzel’s two goals brought Tampa Bay within 4-2 before the second intermission, but MacKinnon restored the three-goal margin at 4:18 of the third. After Charle-Edouard D’Astous cut it to 5-3, Necas scored into an empty net.

The Avalanche improved to 6-4-1 and ended a two-game losing streak. Tampa Bay fell to 7-3-0 after winning three straight. Devon Toews and Artturi Lehkonen each supplied a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri scored Colorado’s power-play goal.

A fast start and timely replies

Elapsed time in each period. EV: even strength; PP: power play; EN: empty net. Guentzel’s second goal, at 19:17 of the second period, was officially even strength.

Shots on goal include goals.

Colorado’s 14 penalty minutes include two bench minors. Its 16 giveaways include 15 by skaters and one by Blackwood.

Toews opened the scoring at 1:08 of the first period, with assists from Necas and MacKinnon. Kadri made it 2-0 at 5:52 on the power play, assisted by T.J. Hughes and MacKinnon. Fedor Svechkov scored 24 seconds into the second, giving Colorado three goals before Tampa Bay had answered.

Guentzel’s power-play goal at 8:13 cut that lead to two, but Lehkonen made it 4-1 at 13:57. Guentzel scored again at 19:17, just as Colorado’s too-many-men penalty expired. His second goal was officially even strength. The Avalanche challenged for a missed stoppage; the goal stood, and Colorado received a bench minor for the unsuccessful challenge.

Colorado killed that subsequent penalty without conceding. Tampa Bay finished 1-for-6 on the power play, while the Avalanche went 1-for-3. MacKinnon’s third-period goal, assisted by Lehkonen and Necas, moved the lead to 5-2. D’Astous scored with 4:47 remaining before Necas’s empty-net finish at 17:19 completed the scoring.

Blackwood’s 31 saves included 13 in the second period, when Tampa Bay outshot Colorado 15-8. The Lightning finished ahead 34-24 in shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of the 23 shots he faced; Colorado’s sixth goal came with his net empty.

Bednar credits the full effort; Cooper addresses the slow start

“Probably our most complete effort of the year,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said in his released postgame interview. Asked about playing a full 60 minutes, he praised the first period and the Avalanche’s five-on-five second period, while qualifying that assessment with the number of penalties. The penalty killing left part of the bench waiting, and keeping those players engaged was a concern before a third period he also liked.

Bednar’s assessment of the power play centered on work, quick puck movement and the available pass: “Nothing forced, really, just using the open man.” He also stood by his view of the frames behind Colorado’s unsuccessful challenge, while acknowledging that the officials saw the play differently.

In the Lightning’s released postgame interviews, Jon Cooper did not agree with the suggestion that Tampa Bay had failed to play as a team. He pointed instead to an off start after time between games and the difficulty of recovering against Colorado: “we were kind of playing catch-up the rest of the way.”

Brayden Point gave a different assessment of the Lightning’s support: “I don’t think our support was close enough.” He connected that distance with missed passes and turnovers. He also discussed power-play entry problems and the opportunity Tampa Bay had while trailing 4-2, before MacKinnon made the margin three again.

MacKinnon welcomed the response after Colorado’s two losses in his postgame comments: “Beat one of the best teams in the league, so that’s always good.” His four points included assists on Colorado’s first two goals and Lehkonen’s second-period goal, followed by his own third-period finish.

Asked about Lehkonen’s contribution as a linemate, Necas said, “He’s always in a good spot,” in his released interview. He credited Lehkonen with creating space for him and MacKinnon and contributing defensively. Lehkonen finished with a goal, an assist and 18:56 of total ice time.

Colorado’s leading line and Tampa Bay’s contrasting combinations

Lehkonen, MacKinnon and Necas shared 10:29 at regulation five-on-five with both goalies present. In the events that could be matched to the official shift records, Colorado had a 6-4 shots advantage and a 3-0 goals advantage with that trio together. Schwartz, Svechkov and Hughes shared 8:25, with matched shots of 4-3 and matched goals of 1-0.

Tampa Bay’s Guentzel-Point-Gage Goncalves combination shared 7:52, with matched shots of 10-1 and matched goals of 1-0. Nikita Kucherov, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel shared 9:16, with matched shots of 2-4 and matched goals of 0-1. These rows describe the recorded shared combinations, rather than each player’s full-game totals.

Among Colorado’s defensive pairs, Brett Kulak and Sam Malinski shared 13:50, with matched shots of 5-7 and no matched goals for or against. Toews and Cale Makar shared 10:22, with matched shots of 6-6 and matched goals of 2-0. The shared-time sample is 44:56; one Tampa Bay goal and shot cannot be assigned consistently between the official play and shift reports, as specified beside both tables.

Regulation five-on-five with both goalies present: 44:56 of eligible shared time. SF/SA are matched shots on goal for/against, including goals; GF/GA are matched goals for/against. Rows are ordered by shared time. One Tampa Bay goal and shot, Guentzel at 19:17 of the second period, is unassigned because the official play report and shift records cannot be matched at penalty expiration. These event columns exclude that play and are not complete five-on-five team or unit event totals.

Regulation five-on-five with both goalies present: 44:56 of eligible shared time. SF/SA are matched shots on goal for/against, including goals; GF/GA are matched goals for/against. Rows are ordered by shared time. One Tampa Bay goal and shot, Guentzel at 19:17 of the second period, is unassigned because the official play report and shift records cannot be matched at penalty expiration. These event columns exclude that play and are not complete five-on-five team or unit event totals.

Complete player statistics and penalties

Open both teams’ full skater, goalie and penalty records

Tampa Bay: complete skater box score

Player	#	Pos	G	A	PTS	+/−	SOG	TOI	Shifts	Hits	Blocks	PIM	Giveaways	Takeaways	FO won/taken
Dominic James	17	C	0	0	0	0	1	12:28	16	1	0	2	1	0	5/10
Brayden Point	21	C	0	2	2	0	3	20:50	23	0	0	0	0	0	3/5
Zemgus Girgensons	28	C	0	0	0	-2	2	12:55	21	4	1	0	0	0	12/20
Pontus Holmberg	29	R	0	0	0	-2	1	11:59	18	1	0	0	1	0	2/2
Brandon Hagel	38	L	0	1	1	-1	2	20:33	24	1	0	2	4	0	0/0
Jake Guentzel	59	C	2	0	2	0	7	22:12	23	3	0	2	2	0	1/2
Anthony Cirelli	71	C	0	0	0	-2	1	17:19	27	1	1	0	0	0	13/22
Nikita Kucherov	86	R	0	0	0	-1	2	20:43	24	0	1	0	3	0	0/0
Gage Goncalves	93	C	0	1	1	1	3	17:59	22	1	0	0	1	0	0/0
Conor Geekie	94	C	0	0	0	0	1	12:35	15	6	1	0	0	0	1/2
Ilya Mikheyev	95	R	0	0	0	-3	1	13:52	20	1	0	0	2	1	1/1
Max Crozier	24	D	0	1	1	0	3	17:17	23	2	1	0	1	1	0/0
Ryan McDonagh	27	D	0	0	0	-2	0	17:27	25	1	0	0	1	0	0/0
Charle-Edouard D'Astous	51	D	1	1	2	2	3	21:06	24	5	3	2	0	1	0/0
John Carlson	74	D	0	0	0	-2	1	18:15	24	1	0	0	1	0	0/0
Victor Hedman	77	D	0	0	0	-1	0	05:56	8	0	0	0	0	0	0/0
Erik Cernak	81	D	0	0	0	-2	1	16:44	24	2	2	0	1	0	0/0
J.J. Moser	90	D	0	0	0	-1	2	15:15	22	0	2	0	0	0	0/0

All 18 participating Tampa Bay skaters. TOI includes all strengths. Faceoff wins and attempts come from the complete official play-by-play.

Colorado: complete skater box score

Player	#	Pos	G	A	PTS	+/−	SOG	TOI	Shifts	Hits	Blocks	PIM	Giveaways	Takeaways	FO won/taken
Fedor Svechkov	9	C	1	0	1	0	1	11:48	17	0	0	0	1	0	5/8
Brock Nelson	11	C	0	0	0	-1	0	18:22	25	0	2	0	2	1	7/21
T.J. Hughes	13	R	0	1	1	1	4	13:10	16	0	0	0	0	0	0/3
Taylor Makar	16	L	0	0	0	0	0	08:11	11	1	1	2	0	0	0/0
Parker Kelly	17	C	0	0	0	0	1	14:17	19	1	3	0	1	0	2/8
Logan O'Connor	25	R	0	0	0	0	3	14:47	18	0	0	2	2	1	1/2
Nathan MacKinnon	29	C	1	3	4	4	4	18:10	22	0	1	0	2	0	9/15
Artturi Lehkonen	62	L	1	1	2	2	1	18:56	24	1	0	2	0	0	0/1
Jaden Schwartz	71	L	0	1	1	-1	0	13:07	17	1	0	0	1	0	0/0
Martin Necas	88	C	1	2	3	4	1	16:32	20	0	2	0	1	0	0/1
Nazem Kadri	91	C	1	0	1	-1	1	15:03	18	2	1	0	0	0	2/5
Gabriel Landeskog	92	L	0	1	1	1	1	11:51	15	2	1	0	0	0	0/0
Devon Toews	7	D	1	1	2	3	2	17:41	25	0	0	2	0	1	0/0
Cale Makar	8	D	0	0	0	2	3	21:07	25	0	0	0	2	1	0/0
Brett Kulak	27	D	0	0	0	2	0	21:06	25	0	5	0	1	1	0/0
Josh Manson	42	D	0	0	0	0	0	18:21	23	4	0	0	0	0	0/0
Sam Malinski	70	D	0	0	0	0	1	19:03	25	2	2	2	1	0	0/0
Brent Burns	84	D	0	0	0	-1	1	18:15	24	2	2	0	1	2	0/0

All 18 participating Colorado skaters. TOI includes all strengths. Faceoff wins and attempts come from the complete official play-by-play.

Starting goalies and unused backups

Team	Goalie	Status	TOI	Saves	SA	GA	SV%
TBL	Dennis Hildeby	Unused backup	00:00	0	0	0	Not applicable
TBL	Andrei Vasilevskiy	Starter, L	59:52	18	23	5	0.783
COL	Mackenzie Blackwood	Starter, W	60:00	31	34	3	0.912
COL	Scott Wedgewood	Unused backup	00:00	0	0	0	Not applicable

Hildeby and Wedgewood were unused backups. Vasilevskiy faced 23 of Colorado’s 24 shots; Necas’s empty-net goal counts against the team, rather than the goalie. SV% is saves divided by shots faced.

Complete penalty summary

Period	Time	Team	Player/status	Infraction	Minutes	Served by
1	05:09	TBL	Brandon Hagel	tripping	2
1	11:27	TBL	Jake Guentzel	unsportsmanlike conduct	2
2	03:04	COL	Logan O'Connor	interference goalkeeper	2
2	08:00	COL	Taylor Makar	tripping	2
2	08:00	TBL	Dominic James	roughing	2
2	08:00	COL	Sam Malinski	roughing	2
2	10:49	COL	Artturi Lehkonen	tripping	2
2	17:17	COL	Bench	too many men on the ice	2	J. Schwartz
2	19:17	COL	Bench	delaying game unsuccessful challenge	2	T. Makar
3	04:59	TBL	Charle-Edouard D'Astous	cross checking	2
3	10:58	COL	Devon Toews	holding	2

All 11 infractions. Schwartz served Colorado’s too-many-men bench minor at 17:17 of the second period. The unsuccessful challenge at 19:17 produced another bench minor, served by Taylor Makar.

G: goals; A: assists; PTS: points; +/−: plus/minus; SOG: shots on goal; TOI: time on ice; PIM: penalty minutes; FO: faceoffs. SA: shots against; GA: goals against; SV%: save percentage. Team and player statistics cover all strengths unless a five-on-five sample is explicitly identified.

Scratches: Tampa Bay listed Scott Sabourin, Jeffrey Viel and Emil Lilleberg. Colorado listed Noah Juulsen and Nicolas Roy.

What comes next

Tampa Bay visits the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Saturday, October 24, at 7 p.m. MDT. Colorado visits the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday, October 25, at 6 p.m. MDT.

Official video and game records

Watch the NHL’s official MacKinnon third-period goal and Necas empty-net finish. The official NHL recap, game summary, complete play-by-play and Tampa Bay/Colorado shift reports provide the original game records. Postgame interview links appear with the comments above. All video references are links to the original official releases.