SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad scored unassisted goals, Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves and the Florida Panthers snapped Colorado’s second 10-game winning streak of the season by topping the Avalanche 2-1 on Sunday night.

Colorado fell to 31-3-7, its 69 points still the second-most in NHL history through 41 games and the most in nearly a century. Boston had 73 points through 41 games in 1929-30. The NHL added regular-season overtime along the way and changed the points structure in 1999-2000 to add a point for losses past regulation.

But the Panthers never trailed Sunday. Bennett scored 6:27 into the game, and Ekblad made it 2-1 with 1:48 left in the second period.

Artturi Lehkonen scored midway through the second period for Colorado, which lost captain Gabriel Landeskog early in that period with what the team said was an upper-body injury.

When will star player return?

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers leave for a road trip today. Matthew Tkachuk will be on the plane for the first time this season.

His uniform is coming along for the ride, too. Time will tell if it gets used.

Tkachuk said Sunday that he has a soft target for what will be his debut game this season. He wouldn’t say what that target it, but since he’s going on the trip it’s reasonable to think that Tkachuk — who had surgery in August to repair a torn adductor and sports hernia — could be in the lineup sometime on this six-game swing.

“Every box that has had to be checked so far has been and I guess the last one before playing is taking off the no-contact jersey,” Tkachuk said Sunday, after completing a workout while the Panthers were playing the Colorado Avalanche, a game that Florida won 2-1.

“We’ll have another few skates here and a couple calls and figure it out from there, but we’re feeling pretty good right now.”

Tkachuk returned to practice with the team last week while wearing a yellow non-contact jersey. He had been skating on his own for at least a couple weeks before that, part of his ramp-up from the surgery.

Tkachuk has not played since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, when the Panthers clinched their second consecutive title by again topping the Edmonton Oilers. He went through the summer trying to rehab — but eventually decided that he needed the surgery knowing it would cost him the first few months of the season.

“The patience has been tested a lot,” Tkachuk said. “But I guess it’s kind of what I signed up for by making the decision last late February or early March by riding it out.”

The trip starts Tuesday in Toronto, and the six-game road swing — the Panthers will come home for a few off days along the way — also includes games at Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Carolina and Washington.

After the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup in June, Tkachuk revealed the severity of the injuries he sustained while playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He missed the final 25 games of the regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tkachuk had 23 points — eight goals and 15 assists — in 23 playoff games, including seven points in the Stanley Cup Final. Winning the Cup, he said, made playing through the injuries more than worthwhile.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Tkachuk said. “Lucky to have our team’s name on the Cup one more time.”

And his focus now is primarily on the Panthers, but he acknowledged that it’s hard not to already be thinking about the opportunity to wear USA Hockey’s colors again at the Milan Cortina Olympics taking place next month.

“We need every point we can right now, and I’m a Florida Panther. That’s my team right now,” Tkachuk said. “And for two and a half or three weeks, I’ll be on another team. And I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty excited for that as well.”