CALGARY — Cale Makar scored twice and added an assist to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 7-3 victory over the winless Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
Devon Toews and Jaden Schwartz also had two goals apiece for Colorado (3-1-0), which bounced back from Wednesday’s 3-2 loss in Winnipeg. Nathan MacKinnon also scored and added two assists.
Adam Klapka, Mikael Backlund and Kevin Bahl scored for Calgary (0-4-0), the only NHL team yet to record a point this season. The Flames have been outscored 23-6 for a league-worst minus-17 goal differential.
Scott Wedgewood, making his season debut, made 26 saves for the win in his 200th career NHL game.
Flames netminder Devin Cooley made 23 stops.
Tied 1-1 after the first period, Colorado scored three times in less than five minutes in the second. The Avalanche tacked on two more goals early in the third period before Backlund and Bahl cut into the deficit.
Schwarz added some insurance with his second goal of the period on a fluky bounce off the skate of Jake Middleton.
TAKEAWAYS
Avalanche: Logan O’Connor has taken a personal leave of absence after it was announced on Thursday that his father, former NHLer Myles O’Connor, had died at age 59. The team did not disclose the cause of death.
Flames: Rookie forwards Aydar Suniev and Jonathan Castagna made their season debuts. It was the first career NHL game for Castagna, who had an assist.
KEY MOMENT
A Toews wrist shot from the blueline eluded a screened Cooley to give Colorado a 2-1 advantage and a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
KEY STAT
Brent Burns had an assist to give him 948 career points (274 goals, 674 assists). The 41-year-old is tied with Chris Chelios for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list for defencemen.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Flames: The Anaheim Ducks visit the Saddledome on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2026.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press