DENVER — Martin Nečas recorded two goals and two assists to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6–3 victory at Ball Arena on Thursday night, securing their fifth consecutive win while sending the Buffalo Sabres to their fifth straight loss.
Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games (eight goals, 15 assists), while Gabriel Landeskog netted the 250th goal of his NHL career and Gavin Brindley contributed a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (12–1–5). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 19 shots in the win.
For the Sabres, former Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram found the scoresheet, while Tage Thompson contributed a goal and an assist. Jordan Greenway added a tally of his own for Buffalo (5-8-4), a club mired in a five-game skid and losers in eight of their last nine.
Goaltender Alex Lyon surrendered two goals on three shots before being pulled at 6:10 of the opening period in favor of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who steadied the net with 26 saves in relief.
Nečas delivered a four-point performance in response to consecutive outings that head coach Jared Bednar characterized as below his usual standard.
“I thought Marty had a really nice bounce back game,” he stated. “He’s had, not from a lack of effort, but probably not his most detailed last couple of games. He had a meeting this morning with (Dave Hakstol) and looked at some things; he was better tonight, and he found the back of the net a couple of times, so a big performance by him to get back on track.”
First Period
Just 52 seconds into the game, Cale Makar spotted Nečas streaking down the middle and sent him on a breakaway. Nečas buried a top-shelf wrister past Lyon to give Colorado an early 1–0 lead.
A short time later, Buffalo’s Beck Malenstyn got into it with a couple of Avs, but the confrontation cooled quickly once Landeskog grabbed hold of his helmet and ripped it off. Officials stepped in, and no penalties were issued.
At 6:10 of the period, the Avs extended the lead to 2–0 when Artturi Lehkonen punched in a rebound off a Sam Malinski shot.
Following the second goal, the Sabres pulled Lyon in favor of Luukkonen.
Buffalo answered not long after, capitalizing when Blackwood mishandled a cover attempt, allowing former Av Byram to score against his old team.
Two minutes later, Colorado struck again to make it 3–1. Brindley fed Ross Colton at the blue line, and Colton redirected the puck to Brock Nelson, who quickly snapped a wrist shot over Luukkonen’s right shoulder to restore the two-goal cushion.
Nearly four minutes after that, the Avs got caught napping. Buffalo’s Owen Power lofted the puck into Colorado’s defensive zone, and Jordan Greenway hustled to win the race, batting it out of the air past Blackwood to cut the deficit back to one.
Late in the period, Landeskog scored off a rebound, but the goal was waved off after officials ruled that Jack Drury had committed goaltender interference on the play.
Second Period
Early in the second period, Josh Manson one-timed a shot from the point off a pass from Brent Burns, but Luukkonen slid to his right to make the save.
Colorado went on the penalty kill at 6:30 after Landeskog was called for tripping Byram. Once the Avs killed it off, the Sabres took their turn in the box after Owen Power tripped Necas along the boards. The Avs immediately turned on the jets off the rush on the ensuing power play, with MacKinnon carrying the puck up ice and snapping a quick shot, only for Luukkonen to snag it with the glove.
MacKinnon headed to the box moments later after falling and swinging his stick into Byram’s knees, drawing a slashing call. The Sabres capitalized on the power play when Thompson blasted a one-timer off a feed from Isak Rosen past an outstretched Blackwood.
Gavin Brindley, the young phenom, came up big once again, giving the Avs a 4–3 lead with 3:22 left in the period. He took a pass from Manson and fired a wrister that beat Luukkonen blocker-side, sending the home crowd into pure jubilation.
Third Period
The Avalanche opened the final period on the power play after Tyson Kozak was assessed a high-sticking minor on Ross Colton. No blood was drawn, so the call remained a standard two-minute infraction. Colorado’s top unit generated several high-quality chances, but Luukkonen stood tall, turning away each attempt with poised, technical efficiency.
Moments later, Sam Girard—making his first appearance in 15 games following an upper-body injury—nearly authored a storybook return. He fired a shot from the left circle toward a wide-open net, only for Luukkonen to sprawl across the crease and deflect it in a highlight-reel save that ultimately rang off the post.
Meanwhile, Taylor Makar, younger brother of Cale, delivered a performance well beyond what might be expected less than 24 hours after being recalled from the Colorado Eagles. Though Luukkonen denied his scoring attempts, Makar was a persistent presence in the Sabres’ zone, applying sustained, intelligent pressure and consistently driving play in Colorado’s favor.
Nečas scored his second of the night with 3:07 when he one-timed a shot in the slot from MacKinnon to give the Avalanche a 5-3 lead. Landeskog subsequently added an empty-net goal with less than two minutes to go in regulation to seal a 6-3 win for the Avalanche, although it appeared Nečas was going to go for the hat trick, he instead put his team first and served up a freebie for the captain to get him on the board.
Nathaniel Lowe is expected to be cut loose by the Red Sox this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP
The Red Sox have some roster cleanup due this week, with Tuesday marking the date by which teams need to add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from the Rule 5 draft and Friday representing the annual non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. Don’t expect Boston to clear a roster spot by cutting bait with a homegrown former All-Star starter, though.
At this point, Boston is unlikely to non-tender injured righty Tanner Houck, multiple sources said Monday. With a 40-man roster crunch coming, there was some thought that cutting bait with Houck was possible due to his current situation. Houck, who took home $3.95 million in 2025, is projected (by MLBTradeRumors’ widely used model) to take home the same salary in 2026, but is expected to miss most if not all of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. Considering the 2027 season is in jeopardy due to labor tensions and Houck is set to hit free agency after that year, the possibility existed that the Red Sox could non-tender (release) Houck into free agency to save a bit of money knowing he won’t be ready to pitch for most of 2026. But sources indicate the Red Sox plan to tender him a contract.
It’s unclear if the sides have talked about a creative long-term deal. Tendering Houck a contract would keep him under club control ahead of negotiations to avoid arbitration and set a 2026 salary later in the winter.
By Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, teams must add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from being poached in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox, who have a full 40-man roster, don’t have a long list of candidates but are expected to make at least a move or two. Right-handed prospect David Sandlin is a virtual lock to be added, requiring at least one 40-man roster spot to be cleared. Lefties Shane Drohan and Hayden Mullins, righties Yordanny Monegro (injured) and Jedixson Paez and outfielder Miguel Bleis are among the other potential Rule 5 candidates in the organization. If the Red Sox want to make sure any of those players aren’t taken in the Rule 5 draft, they can add them. Doing so would require spots to be cleared.
Any roster spots that need to be cleared for prospect additions need to be opened simultaneously Tuesday, which is a day when small trades are usually made throughout baseball. Therefore, the Red Sox could get a jump on the Friday non-tender deadline (set for 8 p.m. ET) by moving on from players four days early. The non-tender date represents an opportunity for teams to cut bait with arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration-eligible players and send them into free agency. The Red Sox, unlike in previous years, could be busy on non-tender day.
The most obvious non-tender candidate on the roster is first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who is projected to earn $13.5 million in 2026. That mark represents much more than what he’d get on the open market after a down season that included him being cut by the Nationals. Lowe will almost certainly be lopped off the roster but could re-sign at a lower rate as he tests the open market. Boston is anticipating the healthy return of Triston Casas next season and is looking to upgrade the first base position via free agency or trade.
The Red Sox have seven other arbitration-eligible players and are certain to retain Kutter Crawford, Romy Gonzalez, Triston Casas and Brennan Bernardino at their low projected numbers. Connor Wong, who is projected to make $1.6 million in 2026, is expected to be tendered after Craig Breslow gave him a vote of confidence last week. Cooper Criswell already agreed to a one-year, $800,000 deal for 2026, removing him from non-tender consideration.
In addition to Lowe, the Red Sox could cut bait with some younger players on the roster. Righty Josh Winckowski (projected to make $800,000) is a candidate to be cut from the roster, as is lefty Jovani Morán. Tough roster decisions might be made with the utility group of Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard later in the winter but for now, those players are projected to be safe.