Gregor tied it 1-1 at 7:21 with a wrist shot from just outside the crease that went over the shoulder of Blackwood. Gregor beat Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard through the neutral zone, cut to the net from the left dot, then outmuscled Girard and defenseman Devon Toews before the shot.
“It was nice. Haven’t scored in a long time, so it’s always good to score,” said Gregor, who last scored Dec. 17, 2024, as a member of the Ottawa Senators. “Just had a good jump on them and tried to make a good move to the net, and I was fortunate enough it went in.”
Nelson made it 2-1 at 18:30 when he located the rebound of Makar’s point shot at the right post and backhanded it off Tarasov’s left toe and in.
“They hit us with some quickness, I think, and they’re a dangerous team off the rush,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. “If you’re not dialed into being above the puck and being solid defensively, they’re going to make you pay, and I think that’s what happened early on in that game.”
Brindley extended the lead to 3-1 at 5:05 of the second period when he backhanded the rebound of Brent Burns’ shot past Tarasov’s glove. Brindley and Burns were on a 2-on-1, and Burns’ wrist shot from the left circle caromed off Tarasov’s left pad right to Brindley as he crashed the net.
“I felt good today and was pretty jacked up to play in a big game,” said Brindley, who missed the previous 10 games with a lower-body injury. “Just wanted to get back in there and help the team out in any way I can.”
MacKinnon made it 4-1 with a wrist shot from just below the blue line that went inside the right post at 7:18. Girard took the puck to the left wall and fed it back to MacKinnon up top for the shot through traffic.
Lehkonen made it 5-1 on a breakaway at 12:31. Brindley fed Lehkonen streaking out of the zone, and he beat Tarasov’s blocker from the hash marks.
“I wasn’t really expecting to get it, but [Toews] gave me the puck,” Brindley said. “Kind of just picked my head up and ‘Lehky’ was wide open. So, [heck] of a finish by him, and surprised he was that open.”
Necas appeared to have scored a power-play goal to make it 6-1 at 19:38, but Florida successfully challenged the play for offside.
Eetu Luostarinen looked to have cut it to 5-2 at 4:47 of the third period. He deflected Jack Studnicka’s tipped centering pass five-hole with his skate, but a review initiated by the Situation Room determined there was a distinct kicking motion and the goal was overturned.
Landeskog scored to make it 6-1 at 6:18 when he finished the rebound of Manson’s initial shot five-hole. Landeskog collected the rebound on his backhand and brought it to his forehand for the shot from the top of the crease.
Samoskevich cut it to 6-2 at 13:08, finishing A.J. Greer’s cross-crease pass into the open net.
“I don’t know if we did a great job,” Gregor said. “We were in it for a period, and that was really it. It is tough coming to a building like this on a back-to-back (Florida defeated the Utah Mammoth 4-3 on Wednesday). They’re obviously first place in the League for a reason. They’re really hard to play against, but obviously not a great result.”
Joel Kiviranta left the game at 18:22 of the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.
“‘Kivi’ has an upper-body injury,” Bednar said. “He’ll get evaluated again tomorrow, and then we should be able to get a decent timeline on him. But nothing too serious.”
NOTES: MacKinnon scored his League-leading 25th goal of the season. He tied Peter Stastny (31 games in 1987-88 and 1982-83) and Marian Stastny (31 games in 1982-83) for the second-fewest games in Avalanche/Nordiques history to reach the mark, behind Michel Goulet (28 games in 1985-86). … The Avalanche (22-2-7, 51 points) became the sixth team in the last 20 years with 50 points in 31 or fewer games, joining the Chicago Blackhawks (29 games in 2012-13), San Jose Sharks (29 games in 2008-09), Boston Bruins (30 games in 2022-23), Buffalo Sabres (31 games in 2006-07) and Anaheim Ducks (31 games in 2006-07). … Colorado’s 10-game home winning streak is tied for the third-longest in Avalanche/Nordiques history.
