Varly, Landy lead Avs against Coyotes
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Phoenix Coyotes.Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves, 18 in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche held on for a 4-2 win against the Phoenix Coyotes at Pepsi Center on Friday.
Nate Guenin and Paul Stastny scored early in the third period to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead.
Guenin broke a 1-1 tie 48 seconds into the period with a shot from the right circle that beat Phoenix goalie Thomas Greiss to the far side. It was Guenin's third goal in 80 NHL games, his first since March 19, 2012 when he scored while playing for the Anaheim Ducks against the San Jose Sharks.
Stastny scored at 6:12 after Greiss made a save against Nathan MacKinnon, who used his speed to drive down left wing. The rebound came to Gabriel Landeskog, who passed to Stastny in front for a shot into an open net.
Coyotes captain Shane Doan scored his second power-play goal of the game to make it 3-2 at 13:58 after Cory Sarich was penalized for tripping. Keith Yandle fired a shot from inside the blue line, and Doan tipped it behind Varlamov.
The Avalanche responded with a power-play goal from Landeskog, who scored from the right circle off a pass from MacKinnon with 3:11 remaining.
It was the second road game of a back-to-back situation for the Coyotes, who are chasing a Stanley Cup Playoff berth in the Western Conference. They lost 3-2 in a shootout Thursday to the Winnipeg Jets.
The teams traded first-period power-play goals, with the Coyotes striking first at 12:47 on a goal by Doan with PA Parenteau in the penalty box for cross-checking deep in the Avalanche end.
Mikkel Boedker had possession in the right circle when he shot the puck off the far post. The puck caromed to Doan in front, and he poked it into a half-open net for his first point in eight games.
Parenteau tied the game at 15:38 after Phoenix's Mike Ribeiro went off for hooking. Greiss made a save against Nick Holden driving to the net in the opening moments of the power play before Parenteau launched a long shot that hit the inside of the left post and bounced into the net.
The goalies made 10 saves each in the period.
Varlamov, who played for Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics but was in in his first NHL game since Feb. 6 (a 3-1 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers), made his best save against David Moss skating in alone after taking a pass from Yandle on a 2-on-1 rush.
Greiss kept the game tied in the final minute of the second period when he stopped Jan Hejda's point shot and prevented Stastny from backhanding the rebound during a scramble in front.
Greiss, in his first start since Jan. 30 (a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres), had a 4-0-0 career record against the Avalanche with a 1.25 goals-against average and .963 save percentage. He made 29 saves Dec. 10 in a 3-1 win here.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
01/03/2014 - 06:00
