Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)

Nathan MacKinnon’s 2 Goals Power Avalanche Past Bruins

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Tommy Bennett | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 11:55 PM ET

The Boston Bruins traveled to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. Boston was coming off a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Avalanche were riding a two-game winning streak. The Avalanche squeaked by the Bruins, but it was not easy.

Game Recap

First Period

In just under four minutes of the period, the Bruins found themselves on the board drawing first blood in Colorado. After a turnover in the neutral zone, the Bruins took to the attack. With relentless pressure and a good forecheck, the fourth line went to work. A good play along the boards by Johnny Beecher saw the puck get fed to the blue line. A great cross-ice pass was made by Mason Lohrei to Charlie McAvoy, who made a slap pass to Beecher for the tap-in goal. Much like the Bruins, the Avalanche scored on their first shot of the game.

After seeing David Pastrnak turn the puck over in the neutral zone, Nathan MacKinnon took the open ice given to him and slid a backhand shot past Jeremy Swayman. At the 9:38 mark, the Avalanche struck again and on their second shot of the game. An offensive zone faceoff win by Gabriel Landeskog found its way to Josh Manson who blasted a slap shot to make it a 2-1 lead. It was a cleanly played period until the 6:08 mark, but the Avalanche killed off the Bruins’ power play to keep their lead. A late Avalanche power play led to nothing, and the Avalanche took a 2-1 lead into the second period.

It was a very low event period offensively. The Bruins generated just 0.16 expected goals during five-on-five play compared to 0.54 from the Avalanche. Neither team could generate anything of high quality, and it came down to capitalizing on the chances they did get.

Second Period

There was no scoring during the second period, but it was dominated by the Avalanche. Credit to the Bruins’ relentless penalty kill, who killed three power plays during the period. However, even during five-on-five play, the Bruins got caved in and dominated.

The Avalanche managed to outshoot the Bruins 17-2 overall and 13-2 during five-on-five play. Furthermore, the Avalanche generated 1.18 expected goals during five-on-five play, truly controlling the pace of the game. If not for Swayman in net, it would have been a much larger deficit.

Third Period

The Avalanche added the insurance marker at the beginning of the third period. After seeing the Bruins mismanage the puck in the offensive zone, the Avalanche took to the attack. MacKinnon entered the zone with blazing speed, and as he pushed the puck below the goal line, Artturi Lehkonen fed him a pass that he made no mistake burying for the goal. The Bruins had more buzz going, but they had no answer for Scott Wedgewood. The Avalanche iced it with an empty net goal by Martin Necas to make it 4-1 and won their third straight game.