DENVER (AP) — Viktor Olofsson scored twice, Scott Wedgwood made 22 saves for his NHL-leading eighth win of the season and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night in a rematch of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals.
While playing against his former team, Ross Colton also scored a goal to help the Avalanche — who beat Tampa Bay in 2022 to win the title — push their point total to an NHL-best 21 points. The Lightning have won five in a row.
Olofsson’s two-goal game came seven days after his first career hat-trick in a win over New Jersey. Nathan MacKinnon had an assist, giving him a team-high 20 points and extending his point streak to seven games.
Nikita Kucherov scored his fifth goal of the season for Tampa Bay, giving the 32-year-old right winger seven points in his past three games against the Avalanche. The goal gave him 1,005 career points, breaking a tie with Brian Propp for 100th in NHL history.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots.
With the game tied at 1 in the second period, Colorado scored twice in 1:13 seconds, the first coming from Olofsson on the power play against the third-best penalty kill in the NHL.
A backhand goal from Brayden Point early in the third period cut the Avalanche’s advantage in half.
the next
Avalanche: At Edmonton on Saturday night.
Lightning: In Vegas Thursday night.
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