JOONAS DONSKOI

Max Pacioretty scored twice and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in a battle of the two newest teams in the NHL.

The Colorado Avalanche will have their coach behind the bench when they face elimination against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Mark Stone scored on a breakaway 50 seconds into overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 and take a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Nathan MacKinnon finished his first career playoff hat trick with an empty-net goal to help the Colorado Avalanche pull away late for a 6-3 win over St. Louis in Game 2 after the Blues avoided a pregame virus scare that nearly sidelined several players.

Tyson Jost scored two of Colorado’s five second-period goals as the Avalanche clinched the West Division and the top overall seed in the NHL playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Colorado Avalanche right wing Joonas Donskoi reacts after scoring a goal against the Arizona Coyotes in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, march 31, 2021, in Denver. Donskoi scored three times during Colorado’s five-goal first period, and the Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 9-3 on Wednesday night in front of a smattering of boisterous fans. “Everybody was fired up and I think we showed it.”Donskoi secured his second career hat trick over a 3:27 span. AdAndre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored in a wild first period that included Arizona goals by Michael Bunting and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Gabriel Landeskog finished with two goals, Mikko Rantanen added another and Burakovsky scored his second with 3:11 remaining on an assist by Donskoi.