from Kyle Fredrickson of the Denver Post,

The Avalanche and Golden Kings meet twice this week with West Division supremacy hanging in the balance.

On Thursday, Colorado claimed Round 1 with a convincing 5-1 victory at Ball Arena, tying the Avs with Vegas at 45 points in the standings chase. The Avalanche dominated shot differential, 32-18, and exploded for three goals in the second period after trailing to begin the game. Colorado featured three players — J.T. Compher, Gabe Landeskog and Cale Makar — who each recorded one goal and one assist.

The Avalanche (21-8-3), winners in eight of its last nine games, faces the Golden Knights (22-8-1) again Saturday with an opportunity to overtake the division lead.

“We found a way to score some timely goals, check pretty hard, and played in a pretty good pack mentality,” coach Jared Bednar said. “But the game was a little bit sloppy. I just didn’t think we had a lot of energy.”

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Game highlights below.