Lightning ride 3-goal first period to win over Avalanche

Jake Guentzel scored twice, Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning used a quick start to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 in Denver on Wednesday night.

Anthony Cirelli and Conor Geekie also scored, Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel contributed two assists each and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots for Tampa Bay.

Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury.

Colorado has dropped two straight after winning five in a row to continue a streaky beginning to the season. Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, Ivan Ivan also had a goal, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 16 saves in his first start for the Avalanche.

Makar and MacKinnon have each recorded at least one point in the first 11 games of the year.

Tampa Bay scored three times on its first five shots. Kucherov got his ninth goal of the season 1:01 into the game with a one-timer from the slot, and then he sent a pass from behind the net to Guentzel, who roofed a shot at 3:36.

Geekie made it 3-0 at 5:32 when he finished off a 3-on-1 rush, but the Avalanche got one back on a power play late in the first on Ivan's redirection of Makar's shot from the point at 14:56, his second goal of the season.

Colorado failed to score on a power play in the second, and less than a minute later, Guentzel scored off a rebound at 6:28 for his second of the game and fourth of the season.

The Avalanche went on the power play twice more after the midway point of the second but couldn't capitalize, and Tampa Bay had three minutes on the power play after Matt Stienberg was assessed a five-minute major for a hit on Cernak.

Makar's fourth goal of the season at 10:57 of the third made it 4-2. Kahkonen came off for an extra skater with 2:49 left, and Cirelli scored into the empty net, his second goal of the season.

--Field Level Media