LOS ANGELES — The Colorado Avalanche have been the NHL’s most-dominant team in the third period for much of this season, but this was a different challenge.
The Avalanche were playing for the third time in four nights Sunday, and the slightly earlier start time meant even less of a recovery in the back-to-back situation. Meanwhile, the Kings, one of the hottest teams in the league (11-2-2 in their previous 15 games), hadn’t played since Wednesday.
That showed up in the final period. The Avalanche ran out of gas in a 4-1 loss at Crypto.com Arena, a disappointing end to a winless road trip (0-1-2).