DENVER — LAS VEGAS (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin's third-period goal held up as the winner for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
Shortly after Nichushkin pushed Colorado's lead to two goals, Vegas' Chandler Stephenson cut the deficit to one. But Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was clutch down the stretch to help the Avalanche bounce back from a home loss to Seattle the night before.
“The guys did a great job, whatever they did to prepare they came out really strong from the first period,” said Georgiev, who finished with 34 saves. “And that definitely helps when we’re ready to play like that. Everybody’s in good shape, yeah, fun game to win today.”
Nathan MacKinnon and Evan Rodrigues also scored for Colorado.
Jonathan Marchessault also scored for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson stopped 22 shots.
Playing for the third time in four nights — and fourth in six over three cities — the Avalanche didn’t appear tired whatsoever, skating with plenty of pep in all three periods.
“Obviously, we don’t get to pick the schedule,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “But yeah, it’s been crazy. We’ve had two back-to-backs already, where we’re getting in late and playing with a rested team the next day, so it is what it is. For us, it’s a good challenge, and that’s kind of the way that we look at it.”
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