TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brandon Hagel tied an NHL record with four assists in the opening period and finished with five as the Tampa Bay Lightning cruised past the Colorado Avalanche 8-2 on Monday.

Jake Guentzel scored twice while Mikey Eyssimont, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Nick Perbix, Anthony Cirelli and Luke Glendening also scored for Tampa Bay. Hagel tied a franchise record with five assists.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots.

Ivan Ivan scored both goals for Colorado, which had a three-game winning streak come to an end. Justus Annunen, who was pulled in the first period but returned for the third, allowed five goals on 16 shots. Alexandar Georgiev allowed three goals on 17 shots.

Takeaways

Avalanche: Colorado ended a four-game road trip with a record of 3-1. The Avalanche had won six of the previous seven games. … Ivan registered his first career multi-goal game.

Lightning: Cirelli scored for the sixth consecutive game to become the sixth player in franchise history to record a goal in at least six consecutive games, joining Steven Stamkos, Kucherov, Brian Bradley, Point and Vinny Lecavalier. … Zemgus Girgensons recorded his 100th career assist.

Key moment

After the Lightning jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Guentzel's power-play goal 7:46 into the first, the Avalanche cut the deficit in half 70 seconds later. But Kucherov scored 1:07 later to regain the two-goal lead and chase Annunen, who allowed three goals on six shots in 10:03.

Key stat

Tampa Bay’s five goals in the first period marked the fourth time in franchise history the Lightning have scored five goals in the opening period, done most recently on Feb. 23, 2011, against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Up next

The Avalanche host Vegas on Wednesday and the Lightning welcome Washington on Wednesday to end a three-game homestand.

Michigan State gets 40 points from its bench in 72-56 win over Colorado to open Maui Invitational

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Jase Richardson came off the bench to score 13 points as Michigan State beat Colorado 72-56 Monday in its first appearance in the Maui Invitational since 2019.

The Spartans (5-1) are playing in their sixth Maui Invitational, the fifth under coach Tom Izzo.

Colorado (4-1), playing its first game away from home in Boulder, got off to a strong start, taking an early lead, 16-13, with a 6-2 run, capped by a dunk from Bangot Dak with under 14 minutes left in the first half. Julian Hammond III hit a jumper to get Colorado within two, 25-23 with 7:42 left but Michigan State pulled away.

Jase Richardson hit a jumper with 6:06 left, Tre Holloman turned a three-point play and Xavier Booker followed his jumper with a pair of free throws a minute later to push the Spartans' lead to 11 points. Trevor Baskin ended the 9-0 run with a jumper at 2:14 but Szymon Zapala answered with a dunk and his two free throws gave the Spartans a 38-25 lead at the break.

Michigan State led by as many as 19 in the second half.

The only Spartan to reach double-figure scoring, Richardson hit 6 of 8 from the field, knocking down one of his two 3-point attempts, to lead a 40-point effort by Michigan State's reserves. The Spartans hit 30 of 61 from the field but were just 2 of 21 from beyond the arc.

Hammond hit 3 of 7 from behind the arc to lead Colorado with 15 points and four assists. Elijah Malone added 14 points. The Buffaloes were just 20 of 54 from the field (37%), including 4 of 19 from deep.

Michigan State will play Memphis, an upset winner over No. 2 UConn, Tuesday. Colorado takes on the Huskies in Tuesday's opening game.

Courtland Sutton's surge is helping rookie Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos make a playoff push

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — What's stoking the Denver Broncos' surprising surge is the growing connection between rookie quarterback Bo Nix and veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

Whenever the Broncos (7-5) need a clutch catch, a key flag or a timely touchdown, Sutton is usually the one delivering it like he did Sunday when he caught eight passes on 10 targets for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns that sparked the Broncos' come-from-behind 29-19 win at Las Vegas.

“Courtland played tremendous,” coach Sean Payton said.

Again.

“He’s just reliable,” Nix said. “He's just always there when you need him.”

Sutton's size (6-foot-4 and 216 pounds) and experience (he's in his seventh NFL season) make him an ideal target and safety valve for the rookie QB whose confidence is growing by the week.

“He’s smart. He’s savvy. He makes plays when the ball’s in the air,” Nix said. “You can trust him. When it’s up in the air, it’s his or nobody’s. It’s not going to be a pick.”

Nix's first touchdown toss to Sutton was an 18-yarder that allowed the QB to break Marlin Briscoe's 1968 Denver rookie record of 14 TD passes, and the two connected again with 5:30 left to make it a two-score game.

The Broncos trailed 13-9 at halftime and Nix said they knew they had to get the ball into Sutton's hands more in the second half after he had caught the only pass thrown his way in the first half (for 17 yards).

“Didn’t target him (much) in the first half,” Nix said. “We come out and say, ‘Look, Courtland, this is your half.’ We take over the game. He goes for two touchdowns. That just kind of speaks for what he means to our team.”

Sutton has been on a tear after since he wasn't targeted a single time in Denver's 33-10 win at New Orleans on Oct. 17. (Payton mentioned as recently as last week what an anomaly that game was because there was a heavy diet of plays for Sutton that just didn't pan out for various reasons.)

In his six games before that goose egg, Sutton had 21 catches on 49 targets for 277 yards and a touchdown. In the five games since, he's caught 36 of the 48 balls thrown his way for 467 yards and three TDs. Plus, he threw a touchdown pass to Nix on a “Philly Special” at Baltimore in Week 9.

“I think we're just scratching the surface,” Sutton said.

Thanks in part to the chemistry between Nix and Sutton, the Broncos are in position for the seventh and final playoff spot entering December.

What’s working

The passing game, thanks to the Nix-Sutton connection.

What needs help

The running game. Javonte Williams had just 2 yards on eight carries and Audric Estime ran three times for 15 yards against the Raiders' run-heavy fronts and a steady diet of blitzes. Jaleel McLaughlin saved the day with seven carries for 44 yards.

Stock up

OLB Nik Bonitto. His 10 sacks make him the first Denver defender with double-digit sacks since 2018, when Von Miller did it.

Stock down

Once again, the Broncos' special teams, with the exception of K Wil Lutz, who hasn't missed a field goal attempt or extra point since his protection unit cratered at Kansas City three weeks ago and allowed the Chiefs to block what would have been the game-winning kick as time expired. On Sunday, the Raiders had a successful fake punt and a 59-yard kickoff return.

Injuries

Payton isn't saying much about the injuries to DE Zach Allen (heel) and CB Riley Moss (knee) except that to him they're not serious setbacks for either player.

Key number

2 — The Broncos are two games above .500 for the first time since starting the 2021 season with three wins.

Next steps

The Broncos host Cleveland (3-8) on Monday night ahead of their bye week.

Infielder Kyle Farmer guaranteed $3.25 million in 1-year deal with Colorado Rockies

DENVER (AP) — Infielder Kyle Farmer is guaranteed $3.25 million in his one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies and can earn $1.25 million in performance bonuses for plate appearances next season.

Farmer gets a $2.5 million salary next season as part of the deal announced Saturday. It includes a $4 million mutual option for 2026 with a $750,000 buyout.

He would get $125,000 each for 200 and 350 plate appearances, $150,000 apiece for 400 and 450, $200,000 for 500 and $500,000 for 550. Farmer can earn the bonuses in 2025 only.

Colorado announced the agreement one day after failing to offer a 2025 contract to Brendan Rodgers, making former first-round pick a free agent.

Farmer hit .214 with five homers and 25 RBIs over 107 games last season with Minnesota. The 34-year-old has a .250 average with 55 homers and 254 RBIs in eight seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2017-18), Cincinnati (2019-22) and the Twins.

The 34-year-old was an eighth-round pick by the Dodgers in 2013 out of the University of Georgia. He made his debut on July 30, 2017, going 1 for 1 with 2 RBIs against San Francisco.

Anunoby scores career-high 40 points, Knicks dish out 45 assists in a 145-118 blowout of Nuggets

DENVER (AP) — OG Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points, Jalen Brunson had 17 of New York's team record-tying 45 assists and the Knicks rode a torrid start to a 145-118 rout of the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.

Brunson had 23 points to go with his career-best assist performance. The Knicks' 45 assists matched the single-game team record set against Cleveland on Nov. 24, 1979.

New York led by 12 after the first, 23 at halftime and by many as 30 points on a night the team shot a sizzling 60.9% from the floor. The starters for the Knicks played late in the game despite the large lead.

Karl-Anthony Towns was a game-time decision with a sore calf, but came up big with 30 points and 15 rebounds.

Reserve Russell Westbrook had 27 points and Nikola Jokic finished with 22 points along with a season-low seven rebounds for Denver.

Takeaways

Knicks: Towns continued to torment the Nuggets, hitting 12 of 15 shots from the field. He was with the Minnesota Timberwolves last season when they eliminated the Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs. The Knicks picked him up as part of a blockbuster trade on Oct. 2.

Nuggets: Jokic and the Nuggets dropped to a surprising 5-4 at home this season. The team tied for the second-best home mark last season at 33-8.

Key moment

Brunson had a run in the first quarter where he scored nine straight points for the Knicks. He outscored the Nuggets by a 9-2 margin to break open the game.

Key stat

Anunoby and Brunson were a combined 9 of 12 from 3-point range. The Knicks were 19 of 36 as a team.

Up next

The Knicks play at Dallas on Wednesday night, while the Nuggets begin a two-game trip the same night in Utah.