Barbashev, Stone and Olofsson each scored two goals, Golden Knights beat Avalanche 8-4 in season opener

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone and Victor Olofsson each scored two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche 8-4 on Wednesday night in the teams' season opener.

Barbashev also had two assists, linemate Jack Eichel had four and defenseman Shea Theodore added three. Adin Hill finished the game with 28 saves.

Mikko Rantanen scored three goals while Casey Mittelstadt also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 11 saves. Justus Annunen came on for Georgiev and stopped two of the four shots he faced.

Takeaways

Avalanche: As the number one goaltender, Georgiev struggled terribly to allow five or more goals in a regular season game for the 34th time in his career. He entered the game with a record of 4-4-2 against Vegas, with a goals-against average of 2.59 and a save percentage of .918.

Golden Knights: Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy stressed the importance of chemistry between his forwards during training camp. He started by building chemistry in the midfield and wing before adding a third element once he was comfortable with the first pairing. Cassidy seemingly did everything right with his top line of Stone, Barbashev and Eichel, as the trio combined for 10 points.

Key moment

After falling behind 1-0 midway through the first period, the Golden Knights wasted no time in tying the game when Olofsson Georgiev shot from near the bottom of the right circle and fired it just over the goalie's right shoulder .

Key statistics

Rantanen's hat-trick was the eighth of his career and second of the calendar year. His last was last season in St. Louis on March 19th. Five of Rantanen's eight hat-tricks came on the road.

Next

The Avalanche host Columbus on Saturday, while the Golden Knights continue their season-opening three-game homestand by hosting St. Louis on Friday.

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