Avalanche offense rolls over Canucks
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Vancouver Canucks.The Colorado Avalanche cranked up what they expected to be a high-scoring attack for the first time this season and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 7-3 at Pepsi Center for their first home win.
Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists, Jarome Iginla scored his first two goals for Colorado, and Tyson Barrie had three assists. The Avalanche ended a four-game losing streak.
They scored three times in the third period to support goalie Semyon Varlamov, who won his first in four decisions.
Daniel Briere and Duchene scored 3:50 apart early in the third period to put the Avalanche ahead 5-2. Briere slid a rebound by Canucks goalie Eddie Lack at 2:05 after Barrie took a shot from the right point, and Iginla fed Duchene for a breakaway goal at 5:55.
Daniel Sedin drew the Canucks within 5-3 at 10:09, but the Avalanche responded at 12:56 when Gabriel Landeskog beat Lack to the short side with a shot from the left point. Iginla scored his second goal with 43.3 seconds remaining.
The Avalanche got goals from Jamie McGinn and Erik Johnson in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, the third time in eight games this season they led after two periods.
McGinn tied the game 2-2 at 6:06 by driving to the net to convert a pass from Duchene, who carried the puck along the right-wing boards, moved to the left of Lack and slipped the puck by defenseman Christopher Tanev.
Johnson scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 8:48 with Vancouver's Nick Bonino (high sticking) and Shawn Matthias (hooking) in the penalty box. Barrie passed to Johnson, who shot the puck from the high slot past Lack, who was screened on the play.
The Canucks took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals by Henrik Sedin, who scored 10 seconds into the game, and Alexandre Burrows, who broke a 1-1 tie at 17:23.
Iginla scored his first goal with the Avalanche at 14:28 to tie the game 1-1. He took a pass from Duchene in the slot and beat Lack with a backhand to the glove side. The goal was the 561st of Iginla's NHL career, moving him past Guy Lafleur and tying him with Mike Modano for 23rd place on the all-time list. Iginla passed Modano later in the game.
The Avalanche have been plagued by turnovers on a nightly basis, a trend that continued when Johnson tried to send the puck around the boards. Daniel Sedin intercepted and fed Henrik Sedin in the slot for a quick shot past Varlamov.
Burrows scored at the edge of the crease after taking a pass from Bonino. The puck went under Varlamov and into the net off his right skate. The goal was waved off, but it was ruled to be a good goal after a video review.
Cody McLeod became the first player in Avalanche history and the sixth in Quebec/Colorado history to reach 1,000 career penalty minutes -- he has 1,004 in 475 games -- when he fought with Derek Dorsett at 9:25 of the first period.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
25/10/2014 - 06:30
