Georgiev snapped the Avalanche's 8-4 loss to Vegas on opening night

On a night when all eyes were on the Avalanche's top six – where the top story after training camp was the lack of depth without Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin or Gabriel Landeskog – the narrative quickly shifted to the performance between them pipes.

For the first time in three years, Alexandar Georgiev suffered a loss in the Avs' season opener. And it was far from the kind of game that inspires confidence.

Georgiev scored five goals on 16 shots in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. After the second half he was withdrawn and watched from the bench as substitute Justus Annunen only stopped three of five shots as the game progressed.

Meanwhile, the Avs' top players prevailed on offense. Mikko Rantanen scored a hat trick – the first three-goal game in a season opener for Colorado in eight years (Joe Colborn, 2016). Rantanen, still without a contract extension, scored three one-off goals after assists from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar (twice).

READ MORE: Good & Bad: A tale of two appearances in Avalanche's season opener

The other goal was scored by Casey Mittelstadt, who was a bright spot for Colorado despite playing with different wingers throughout the night. Mittelstadt spent most of the game at even strength on a line where he is suddenly the veteran of the group. He was flanked by newcomers Nikolai Kovalenko and Calum Ritchie. The trio got off to a strong start, but couldn't achieve much in the later stages of the game.

On the shift where Mittelstadt scored, he had Ross Colton and Kovalenko play on the wing. It's a sign that head coach Jared Bednar isn't afraid to try different things until he gets Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin, or both, back. Neither is expected to return before November.

After Rantanen's first goal gave the Avs a 1-0 lead, the Golden Knights responded quickly thanks to a goal from Victor Olofsson. The new signing beat Georgiev from a difficult angle with a shot that the goalkeeper will probably want back. Georgiev was on the ground, holding the short side open for Olofsson, who later scored another goal with a shot in the closing seconds of the second period.

Vegas then scored two goals in a 25-second span in the final minutes of the first game. It was a rare shift in which Colorado's top line allowed two goals to Vegas' top line. On the second goal, a 2-on-1 that ended with an equalizer for captain Mark Stone, Makar found himself in no man's land after pinching at the blue line. The result of his mistake was that Devon Toews got stuck trying to stop Jack Eichel and Stone.

MacKinnon was the forward on the play, but he let up for just a second, and that was enough for Eichel to get away. Two rare mistakes from two players at the top of the lineup. Vegas took a 3-1 lead at the break.

But from then on, every time Colorado responded, the Golden Knights added another goal to keep them out of reach. After Rantanen's second goal it was suddenly 3:2, but then it quickly became 4:2. When Mittelstadt then made it 4:3, the Knights made it 5:3 with the Oloffson PP goal.

Then, in the third period, Rantanen made it 5-4, but the Knights scored one, then two goals against Annunen to take a 7-4 lead. Then an empty-net goal after nearly five minutes of 6-on-5 play for Bednar's club.

Colorado needs to turn the page as it prepares for its home opener Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Avs will play the next four games at Ball Arena in a seven-game stretch in which they were so dominant a season ago.