Bednar Gets His Extension, Then MacKinnon Scores Twice and Drops the Gloves

Jared Bednar's future in Colorado was settled before the puck dropped Wednesday. The Avalanche gave their coach a four-year extension hours before the opener, ending the questions that followed last spring's sweep by Vegas in the Western Conference final.

"I didn't want him to go through the whole year and have those distractions of being asked that same question," GM Joe Sakic said. Bednar, who won the 2022 Stanley Cup, had been entering the last year of his deal.

Then his team went out and beat Los Angeles 8-4.

A rare sight

Nathan MacKinnon, who scored a career-high 53 goals last season, scored on a 5-on-3 just 23 seconds into the second period and again at 8:33 to make it 4-2. The bigger surprise came late in the third with Colorado up 6-4, when the 2024 MVP dropped the gloves with Kings defenseman Brandt Clark. MacKinnon's last fight was four years ago.

MacKinnon's second goal gave Colorado a 4-2 lead in the second period.

The Avalanche pulled away right after. Captain Gabriel Landeskog scored less than a minute after the fight, and Artturi Lehkonen got his second of the night 1:03 later.

Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves. Colorado scored four times on the power play but also gave up two short-handed goals, something Bednar will mention this week.

Trevor Moore, Joel Armia, Brian Dumoulin and Artemi Panarin scored for the Kings, and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves.

Colorado hosts St. Louis on Saturday. Los Angeles plays in San Jose the same night.