Devon Toews scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 11:06 remaining, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Florida Panthers 3-1.

The Colorado Avalanche began the season with a dud against a recent Stanley Cup champion — the Vegas Golden Knights. But the Avs looked like a completely different club Monday night, completing the first half of the regular season with a statement effort against the defending champion Florida Panthers.

DENVER -- Devon Toews had two goals and an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche scored three straight goals to rally for a 3-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Ball Arena on Monday.

It felt like the Avalanche weren’t going to get anything past Sergei Bobrovsky and his posts. The Panther’s goalie was excellent to start the game.

Jason Zucker scored his third goal of the night to give the Sabres a two-goal lead at Ball Arena, but Cale Makar had his second of the evening with 2:28 left and Jonathan Drouin sent it to overtime with 6.8 seconds remaining on Nathan MacKinnon’s third assist of the contest.

Devon Toews scores from just inside the blue line to give the Avalanche a lead over the Panthers in the third period.