The Colorado Avalanche easily beat the LA Kings 7-3, and improved to 11-6-4 on the season. [Mile High Hockey]
The lead wouldn’t last long, as goaltender Semyon Varlamov gave the Kings an early holiday gift just four minutes later. An easy goal, scored when he failed to cover the puck, tied things up at 15:26 of the first — but the Avalanche would grab the lead back just 50 seconds later, when the first power play unit remembered how to pass from down low and created a quick strike tic-tack-toe play to Nathan MacKinnon for his 14th tally of the season.