Colorado Avalanche jump out to early lead on soccer-style goal

The Colorado Avalanche jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The game ended scoreless after 20 minutes. But in the second period, Artturi Lehkonen opened the scoring with a soccer-style goal.

Here’s a look:

Lehkonen kicked the puck into the net as he was knocked down by the Stars defenseman. The puck got caught up between his skates, popping over Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger’s right shoulder.

The play was reviewed, with the officials quickly determining that there was no kicking motion, leading to a good goal. Lehkonen’s marker put the Avalanche up 1-0. Minutes late, Nathan MacKinnon took a high stick from Roope Hintz, leading to a double-minor.

The Avs wasted no time in making Dallas pay. MacKinnon scored his first of the playoffs, a power play goal.

Check it out here:

Cale Makar fed MacKinnon with a no-look pass. The Stars let MacKinnon take all the time wanted to shoot the puck. He beat Oettinger under the glove, putting the Colorado Avalanche up 2-0. Jonathan Drouin drew the other assist on the goal.

Nathan MacKinnon scores twice, inches closer to all-time Avalanche record

Nathan MacKinnon’s two goals in Game 1 against the Dallas Stars put him up to 50 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. MacKinnon now trails Peter Forsberg by eight goals for second on the Avalanche's all-time playoff goal-scoring list. Forsberg notched 58 in 140 playoff games during his tenure with the Nordiques-Avalanche.

MacKinnon has registered the mark in 89 games, putting him on pace to pass Forsberg this postseason, if the Avalanche play long enough.

The all-time postseason goals record is held by Joe Sakic with 84 in 172 games. It’s worth pointing out that Sakic was part of the 1996 and 2001 Cup runs. In between, he appeared in numerous playoff runs for Colorado.

As for points, MacKinnon is third on the Avalanche’s all-time playoff list with 117. He trails Forsberg, who registered 159, and Sakic who notched 189. Considering the pace MacKinnon is on, and hopefully the Avalanche’s continued success, he should have plenty of opportunities to catch Forsberg and Sakic.