Colorado Avalanche takeaways: 1st-period collapse, Kahkonen disappoints in debut, and more from 5-2 loss to Bolts

Wednesday night in Denver featured a rematch of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, as the Colorado Avalanche hosted the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning at Ball Arena. But with Halloween on Thursday, the venue turned more into a house of horrors for the Avalanche, who lost by a 5-2 final score.

The opening 20 minutes of the night were especially troubling for the Avalanche. The Bolts seized a 3-0 lead before plenty of fans at Ball Arena even had the opportunity to find their seats thanks to tallies from sniper Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, and Conor Geekie.

Colorado managed to stop the bleeding, albeit shortly, thanks to the second goal in Ivan Ivan's Avalanche career late in the opening frame.

However, just over five minutes into the second period, it would be Guentzel who lit the lamp again for his second of the game and fourth goal of the season.

Cale Makar brought the Avs closer with his fourth goal midway through the third period, but the Bolts sealed the victory thanks to Anthony Cirelli's second goal of the season, hitting the empty net.

Making his Avalanche debut, Kaapo Kahkonen was victimized for four goals on 20 shots, while Andrei Vasilevskiy held the Avalanche at bay with 33 saves.

With that being said, what were the three top takeaways from Wednesday night at Ball Arena?

3 biggest takeaways from Colorado Avalanche's 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay Lightning

#3. The Avalanche hope slow start is not a theme

Despite losing Steven Stamkos over the offseason via free agency, the Lightning still boast an overwhelming offensive attack. Their attack is led by reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Kucherov, along with Brayden Point and Guentzel.

Before the Avs could even blink, they were already in a three-goal hole that they ultimately failed to climb from. Poor starts almost always spell doom for a team, and they found that out the hard way.

The Avalanche conceded early in their second-straight game, having suffered another 5-2 defeat against Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. However, the Avs had opened the scoring in the three games before that and won all of them.

Considering the Avalanche have fallen into several multi-goal deficits this season, they'd better do everything possible to buck the trend before the season slips away from them.

#2. Avalanche's normally reliable powerplay unit shows cracks

While the Avalanche were able to score with the man advantage in the first period, their other three opportunities went for naught. Considering that the Lightning ultimately won by three goals, the Avs will be lamenting those missed opportunities.

It was especially concerning, considering the Avalanche boasted the NHL's third-best power-play unit coming into Wednesday's game.

#1. Goaltending woes continue to haunt the Avalanche

Deubutant Kaapo Kahkonen was expected to bring some stability to the Colorado crease. However, the Finnish net-minder faced only 20 shots and yet surrendered four goals for a very discouraging .800 save percentage.

Goaltending has been an issue for the Avalanche this season, especially with starter Alexander Georgiev. Kahkonen's first start in Colorado won't do much to inspire confidence.

The Avalanche(5-6) will next take on the Nashville Predators(3-5) on November 2.