The Tampa Bay Lightning jumped out to a three-goal lead less than six minutes into the game, and then held on for a 5-2 win over the Avalanche to run their winning streak to three games. Nikita Kucherov scored just a minute into the game and then added an assist as he went head-to-head with Nathan MacKinnon, the man who beat him out for the Hart Trophy last season.
In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy crept one win closer to 300 on his career as he stopped 33-of-35 shots including 12-of-13 in the third period when the Avalanche dominated possession.