On Sunday, the University of Denver’s Magness Arena played host to an NHL preseason game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Utah Mammoth. This was the first time Magness hosted the Avalanche since 2017 for their intrasquad Burgundy/White game.
This series was a split-squad matchup meaning both organizations split their players between going to Magness and who would face off at Ball Arena later in the evening.
The matchup at Magness was originally scheduled to drop at 2:30 p.m. but it was delayed until 5 p.m. due to the Mammoth’s “travel issues.”
“For us it was fine…just a little bit longer to sit around then a delayed warm-up. It would have been a tough day for travel for those guys on the other side,” said Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar.
When the game finally began, it was back and forth from the start. Colorado defenseman Keaton Middleton and Utah forward Curtis Douglas got things going early, dropping their gloves and throwing punches to both earn five minutes in the penalty box just two minutes into the game.
Utah struck first after Avalanche forward Christian Humphries was given a two minute penalty for interference. Mammoth forward Michael Carcone snuck the puck over the line during a scramble in front of the net to give Utah the 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the first period.
Early in the second period, the Avalanche found themselves a man up after the Mammoth were penalized for having too many players on the ice. Defenseman Cale Makar took a shot that ended up being blocked but on the rebound, the puck came out to forward Gavin Brindley whose first-time slapshot found the goal to even the score at 1-1 just after four minutes into the second period.
Less than a minute later, Brindley got the puck again in the middle of his attacking third and slipped it into the bottom left corner for his second goal of the game to put Colorado up 2-1.
The Avs held their momentum and fired in another goal in the sixth minute of the period with a pass across the net from Makar to find forward Danil Gushchin who finished it off to extend the lead to 3-1.
Colorado finished their scoring flurry of a second period when forward Gabriel Landeskog passed it off to forward Tristen Nielson on the attack. Nielson made a quick move and flipped it around the Utah goaltender from close range to put the Avalanche up 4-1 with two minutes left in the middle period.
With a big lead, Landeskog did not miss the opportunity to throw a few punches at Utah forward Sam Lipkin, who had elbowed Makar earlier in the game, before eventually bringing him to the ground. They both went to the penalty box in the seventh minute of the third period.
“I don’t necessarily think he was trying to elbow him in the face…it was maybe accidental, maybe not, maybe a little bit of both. Either way it doesn’t matter to me,” Landeskog said. “You see one of your players go down, it doesn’t matter if it’s our best player or not, somebody’s going to do something.”
With 5:35 left to play, Nielsen got the puck from forward Valeri Nichushkin on the right side of the goal and buried the shot for Colorado’s fifth goal of the game.
Colorado closed out the game to win 5-1 in front of the Magness crowd.
“It was great,” said Landeskog. “The crowd was awesome.”
This game marked his first full season back to hockey after being sidelined with an injury since the Stanley Cup Final in June 2022, and making a short return during last year’s playoffs.
Later that evening at Ball Arena, Colorado beat Utah again 3-2. Avalanche forward Brock Nelson scored the game winner with 5:19 left in the third period.
The Colorado Avalanche will continue their preseason as they host the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena on Sept. 27. They will then start their regular season at the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 7 as they look to capture their fourth Stanley Cup title.
