That game got wild.
But the Avs had enough to hold on and defeat the New York Islanders, 5-4.
The game was tied 1-1 through two periods when the Avs broke out the offense.
Four goals in the first 8:27 of the third period gave them what seemed like a comfortable 5-1 advantage. Nathan MacKinnon, J.T. Compher, Cale Makar and Devon Toews all got the puck past former Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov. The last three goals all came in a span of 1:53.
But the Islanders made things interesting against Avs goalie Pavel Francouz. They answered with three goals in 7:35 and got within 5-4 with 27 seconds left in regulation.
Makar finished with two goals and an assist. MacKinnon had a goal and a pair of assists. Gabriel Landeskog added two assists.
MORE ON THE AVS WIN HERE
The Avalanche plays the second game of three straight on the road against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, March 8 at 5 p.m. MST.