Avalanche rally to beat Devils
The official game recap New Jersey Devils vs Colorado Avalanche.Matt Duchene scored his sixth goal of the season with 2:53 remaining in regulation to give the Colorado Avalanche a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.
The Avalanche took their first lead of the game when Duchene slammed home his own rebound from the right circle to break a 2-2 tie. Colorado survived a late New Jersey power play after defenseman Jan Hejda was whistled for slashing with 2:34 remaining.
John Mitchell and Erik Johnson also scored for the Avalanche. Sergei Varlamov, who was making his third straight start, stopped 23 shots. Eric Gelinas and Martin Havlat scored for the Devils. Cory Schneider, who was making his 18th straight start to begin the season, made 26 saves.
Johnson pulled the Avalanche into a 2-2 tie with 7:30 remaining in the third when he took a wide-angled from low in the right circle that somehow beat Schneider between his left pad and the post.
Gelinas scored his second goal of the season from a tough angle from along the left-wing boards at 8;21 of the final period to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. Patrik Elias won an offensive-zone draw back to Gelinas, who controlled the puck before snapping a shot through a maze of players that beat Varlamov high to the long side.
The Devils were forced to kill a four-minute double minor to Gelinas for high sticking at 11:36 of the second period, during which young defensemen Damon Severson, Adam Larsson and Seth Helgeson all played a part. Schneider made 10 saves in the second, including a shot that deflected off his mask when Ryan O'Reilly took a quick wrister from the left circle at 7:54. Varlamov turned away seven shots.
The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Havlat scored his first goal in six games at 2:04 of the first period, firing home a shot from the slot off a big rebound. Michael Ryder took the initial shot from the right circle and Varlamov kicked the rebound directly to Havlat between the circles.
The Avalanche pulled even when Mitchell scored his third of the season at 8:11. Gabriel Landeskog made the play happen when he drew both Devils defensemen to him low in the right circle before feeding Mitchell in front for a chip past Schneider inside the left post.
The Devils, who had their two-game winning streak snapped, embark on a four-game road trip beginning Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. The Avalanche, who concluded their four-game road trip with two straight wins (2-2-0), return home to play against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
-- by NHL.com --
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16/11/2014 - 04:00
