Avalanche loses 4-2 at Lightning for 2nd straight defeat in regulation

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on Jan 6, 2026

Published in Hockey

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TAMPA, Fla. — The weather was nice, but the results were not.

For the first time this season, the Colorado Avalanche has lost back-to-back games in regulation after getting swept by the NHL’s two Sunshine State clubs. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Avs on Tuesday night, 4-2, at Benchmark International Arena.

Brandon Hagel scored on a one-timer from the right circle at 8:31 of the third period to help Tampa Bay regain the lead, and that proved to be the game winner. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-net goal with 1:25 left.

“I thought we played, but didn’t get the result we wanted,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We made a couple mistakes and failed to get the puck in a little bit later in the third period, but when we did we went to work and created a couple looks to try and tie.

“We just came up short, but can’t fault the guys for the effort tonight.”

This defeat came two nights after Colorado dropped a 2-1 decision to the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers. The road trip wasn’t a total washout, thanks to a comeback victory in Raleigh, N.C., against the Carolina Hurricanes, but the Avs lost two games and two key players and could use the upcoming long homestand to regroup after the first bit of real adversity this season.

The toll of playing for the third time in four nights against three of the best teams in the NHL looked evident at times. The Avs (31-4-7) did not lack hard work or effort, but there were times when the legs and the execution failed them.

“Just at times tonight, the opportunities that we gave them, they were able to capitalize on,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. “It’s going to happen. Just didn’t feel like we generated too much offensively tonight. Got a couple good looks, but overall it felt like a lot of that game was played in our end. We’ve got to find ways to mitigate that.”

Colorado fell behind late in the first period, but responded with a strong middle 20 minutes. The Avs’ fourth line put together a great shift that led to their first goal at 3:22 of the period.

Zakhar Bardakov collected the rebound of an Ilya Solovyov shot and tried to tuck it behind Andrei Vasilevskiy’s outstretched left leg pad. The puck ended up at the top of the crease and Parker Kelly was able to shovel it past Lightning defenseman Declan Carlile trying to play goalie with Vasilevskiy out of position.

It was Kelly’s eighth goal of the season, and the first point in an Avalanche uniform for Solovyov.

Brock Nelson scored for the third time in three games since being named to the U.S. Olympic team. The Avs were just finishing off a penalty kill as Nelson and Makar raced the other way on a 2-on-2. Makar slipped the puck to Nelson, and his shot from the left circle found the top-right corner with the help of a deflection from Erik Cernak’s stick.

Nelson now has 19 goals in 42 games for the Avs this year. His career high is 37, which he scored in 2021-22 with the New York Islanders.

For the second period in a row, the Lightning struck for a late goal against an opponent playing for a third time in four days. Yanni Gourde connected with Zemgus Girgensons at the top of the blue paint for a tap-in tally with 2:38 remaining in the middle frame.

Jake Guentzel had the lone goal of the first period. Tampa Bay’s power play had several chances, and when Guentzel collected the puck at the goal line and moved into the right circle, no Avalanche player came to meet him. The U.S. Olympian beat Scott Wedgewood with 12.0 seconds left in the period for his 19th goal of the season.

The Avs played this game without captain Gabe Landeskog and defenseman Devon Toews with upper-body injuries. Both players are week-to-week, though Toews is expected back sooner. They have also been without goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood for the entire road trip, which led to Wedgewood starting all three games.

“No excuses with the schedule or injuries or any of that,” Nelson said. “We showed up ready to go each and every day. It wasn’t our best, but we found a way to fight back and were in a good spot at the end of the second heading into the third. We just couldn’t get it done.”

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