LOS ANGELES – The Kings have a solid hockey team, one that expects to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. Those Kings also played pretty well in spurts Wednesday night during the opening game of their season.
They worked hard. They created chances. Alas, they did not have Mikko Ratanen and Nathan MacKinnon, but the other team did. And that was a big problem.
Ranaten (two goals, four points) and MacKinnon combined for three goals and seven points as the Avalanche opened the 2023-24 season with a 5-2 win at Crypto.com Arena.
It was far from a flawless performance for the Avs.