The Colorado Avalanche held their home opener of the 2025-26 season on Thursday evening, hosting their division rival the Utah Mammoth at the Ball Arena in Denver, CO. The Avalanche already had a game in hand after beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on the NHL’s opening night on Tuesday.
Although they were much less explosive and dominant in this one, the Avalanche still managed to walk away with two points, especially important against a divisional opponent. Here is the summary of the Avalanche’s 2-1 win over the Mammoth.
Summary of the game
The game started with the two teams evenly matched, with each side managing more than 10 shots apiece (the Avalanche led by 12 for the frame). The only goal came at halftime when Ross Colton took a quick feed from Jack Drury and buried it past an outstretched Karel Vejmelka to give the Avalanche the early advantage.
The Avalanche saw a turnaround in the second period, with the Mammoth trailing by a significant margin (11-4). Still, Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood remained strong in net. However, the Mammoth’s perseverance would pay off when Dylan Guenther passed on the power play and one-timed it past Wedgewood to make it 1-1.
With things deadlocked heading into the third period, the Avalanche wasted little time in gaining the lead. They earned their third power play of the night, and superstar Nathan MacKinnon took matters into his own hands. MacKinnon slid to the faceoff spot, took a pass from Cale Makar and ripped an absolutely wicked shot over Vejmelka’s glove to put the Avalanche ahead again.
The rest of the period would be quiet offensively for the Avalanche. Instead, they focused on suppressing the Mammoth, leaning on Wedgewood to close things down. Despite a late flurry, the Avalanche would hang on for their second win of the season.
The Mammoth will continue their season on Saturday, October 11th at the Nashville Predators. Meanwhile, the Avalanche have a huge divisional showdown at home tomorrow, October 9, at 9:00 PM EST against the Dallas Stars.
#Avalanche #holds #Mammoth #win #Hockey #Writers #Colorado #Avalanche #Latest #news #analysis