Avalanche score 5 straight to edge Sabres

BUFFALO -- Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche rally from a four-goal deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 at KeyBank Center on Tuesday.

Artturi Lehkonen capped the five-goal flurry at 15:38 of the third period when he swept in a rebound in front.

Colorado trailed 4-0 after the first period.

“We just felt like there's a lot of time left (after the first),” MacKinnon said. “[Coach Jared Bednar] didn't rip us too bad. He was pretty calm. … We felt like there's a lot of time, and we played well in the second and third.”

Scott Wedgewood, acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Saturday, stopped all 22 shots he faced in his debut for the Avalanche (14-12-0) after replacing Alexandar Georgiev, who allowed four goals on eight shots in the first. Colorado had lost three of its previous four.

“The whirlwind of this trade, I've been off the ice for probably four days,” Wedgewood said. “I hadn't skated, so we had like an hour-and-10-minutes skate this morning to try to get the adrenaline back and conditioning back. … Get in there, try to stop the bleeding, and it ended up being a good night for me to do it.”

Tage Thompson scored twice, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves for the Sabres (11-12-2), who have lost four straight.

“It [stinks]. It just [stinks], honestly,” Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said. “We have to be better. Each and every guy needs to be better. It’s honestly [ridiculous]. Sorry. Pardon my French, but it is. We left ‘Upie’ hanging. We left each other hanging. We weren’t working for each other after the first period.

“We thought it was going to be easy, that they were just going to go into a hole. It’s former Stanley Cup champs over there. One of the best players in the world. One of the best defensemen in the world. You can’t give them opportunities like that.”

Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin played one shift in the third before leaving the game with back spasms. The injury is related to one he sustained on the first day of training camp. Coach Lindy Ruff did not have an update.

MacKinnon began the comeback by cutting it to 4-1 at 2:24 of the second period, ending a 10-game goal drought. He intercepted Connor Clifton's clearing attempt near the Buffalo blue line and skated to the right face-off circle for a wrist shot to the glove side.

Joel Kiviranta pulled the Avalanche within 4-2 at 1:19 of the third period by one-timing a rebound in the low slot. Logan O'Connor then made it 4-3 at 4:30 when he jumped on a rebound and scored from low in the left circle, prompting Ruff to call a timeout.

“Really called the timeout to just sort of settle things down,” Ruff said. “I sensed panic. We were running around in our end. We've been pretty good at staying in pretty good position in our end. Two of the goals, we were out of position, just flat out of position. And then you look at the last couple, just net front, box your guy out. Be strong around the net front. Not strong enough, allowed them to tip the puck, to get under the puck, to get in front of our goaltender.”

Bednar credited the line of Kiviranta, O’Connor and Ivan Ivan for turning things around for Colorado.

“They got it started,” he said. “They followed it up with another goal and it was their work and relentlessness on the puck that that really kind of started to spark our bench.”

MacKinnon tied it 4-4 at 7:39 with his second of the game when he tipped Mikko Rantanen’s point shot over Luukkonen’s left shoulder.

Thompson gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:22 of the first period. Clifton’s point shot hit the crossbar, and Thompson was on the doorstep to put the rebound into the net.

Thompson followed that by making it 2-0 at 6:39, taking Jason Zucker’s pass from the left point in the near circle and slipping a backhand through Georgiev’s pads.

JJ Peterka scored 11 seconds later to extend it to 3-0. He received a pass through the slot from Zach Benson and snapped it short side from the bottom of the right circle.

Beck Malenstyn pushed it to 4-0 at 11:49. He collected a pass from Nicolas Aube-Kubel at the left hash marks and slid a backhand through the five-hole from in front, chasing Georgiev.

“Obviously they started to make a push and there was a bit of panic in our game,” Thompson said. “First period, we were all over them, making plays and going north with the puck. And then I think they make a push and we start throwing pucks around, not making plays, and just giving it right back to them, and they just shove it back down on our throat. … So, it’s just ugly. Ugly last 40 minutes of the game.”

NOTES: Colorado came back from a four-goal deficit to win for the fourth time in franchise history. The others: a 5-4 OT win against Pittsburgh Penguins on March 24, 2024; a 5-4 shootout win against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 16, 2007; and a 7-5 victory at the Florida Panthers on March 3, 1999 (trailed by five). … Wedgewood is the second goalie in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to earn a win in his debut after coming into the game in relief (Adam Werner, 40 saves in a 4-0 victory at the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 12, 2019). … Thompson scored multiple goals in the first period for the sixth time in his NHL career (392 games). … Colorado center Casey Mittelstadt and Buffalo defenseman Bowen Byram, who were traded for each other on March 6, each played against his former team for the first time. Mittelstadt was minus-2 with one shot on goal in 12:00 of ice time; Byram was minus-1 with two shots in a Sabres-high 26:30.