Nhl Scores: Necas, Kelly each has 2 points as Avalanche beat Mammoth 4-2
Martin Necas and Parker Kelly each had a goal and an assist and the Colorado Avalanche scored four times in the second period to post a 4-2 win over the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Feb. 25, 2026, a result listed on the nhl scores board for the night.
Nhl Scores roundup: Avalanche 4-2 Mammoth
Colorado built its lead in the second period and finished with a 4-2 victory on Wednesday at Delta Center, with goals from Necas, Kelly, Brock Nelson and Victor Olofsson. The Avalanche improved to 38-9-9 with the win, and Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves for Colorado.
Four-goal second period decided it
Kelly opened the scoring at 3: 26 of the second period, firing a wrist shot past the blocker of Karel Vejmelka to make it 1-0. Olofsson extended the lead to 2-0 at 9: 13 on a wrist shot from a feed by Sam Malinski. Dylan Guenther cut the deficit to 2-1 with a power-play one-timer at 10: 49 off a pass from Mikhail Sergachev, and Nelson added a one-timer at 12: 20 from Gabriel Landeskog to push Colorado to 3-1. Colorado scored four times in the second period en route to the 4-2 final that appears on nhl scores for Feb. 25, 2026.
Debuts, returns and lineup notes
Kulak makes his debut for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon was not in the lineup for the Avalanche after playing in Team Canada’s 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the gold medal game of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Sunday; coach Jared Bednar said he expects MacKinnon to play against the Minnesota Wild at home on Thursday. Logan Cooley returned to the Mammoth lineup after missing the previous 28 games with a lower-body injury and recorded an assist in his return.
Quotes from both benches
Bednar on the win: "I thought it was all right. I think the guys played hard. They were committed to the way we want to play. There were some sloppy plays on both sides that led to some real good scoring chances for and against…Overall, I've got to say no passengers, so I have to be pretty happy with it. " Utah coach Andre Tourigny said: "We played a good team, but I didn't like our grind. I didn't like our physicality. I thought we didn't have the pace we should have in our zone and on the forecheck. I don't think we were the fastest team tonight, and that's what makes us special. We need to realize that and be much better next game. " Cooley said of his return: "Personally, it felt pretty good. It's good to be back out there with the guys. It's no fun sitting in the stands watching them. It kind of felt like a long journey. There was a lot of hard work that went into it…It felt good to be back, but now it kind of shifts to the team and how we need to be better. "
Netminders, overturned call and turning points
Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves for the Mammoth, who entered the game at 30-24-4 and had won two straight. Nelson appeared to score at 8: 37 of the first period on a tip from a Brent Burns shot, but the play was overturned after Utah successfully challenged for goaltender interference. Guenther, who scored twice for Utah, said: "You haven't played for a while, so you want to make nice plays. You don't really have your A-game yet, so just playing your B-game solid, and I thought we did that better in the third. "
The Avalanche have won three of their past four games after the 4-2 victory at Delta Center on Feb. 25, 2026. Bednar said he expects MacKinnon to be back in the lineup for Colorado's home game against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, which is the next scheduled event mentioned by team officials in the available details.
