Eurolanche

Boedker's OT goal lifts Coyotes past Avs

Playing overtime for a second straight day didn't bother the Arizona Coyotes, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 at Pepsi Center on Sunday when Mikkel Boedker scored on a breakaway with 42.1 seconds remaining.

Boedker also set up Michael Stone's tying goal at 2:34 of the third period, and goalie Anders Lindback made a season-best 38 saves, 13 in the third and three in overtime.

The Coyotes (17-15-3) have gone 4-1-2 since losing five consecutive games and have climbed into third place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks. They lost 4-3 in overtime Saturday to the Los Angeles Kings and are 4-3 in extra-period games.

Boedker raced ahead of Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, moved in on goalie Semyon Varlamov and put a move on him before lifting the puck over his blocker.

"I just got off the bench, so I think I was more fresh than the guys on the ice," Boedker said. "I was able to have a step on Barrie and I was able to pull away. I was debating whether to go backhand, but once I faked it I was comfortable going forehand. I was able to get it high. I was able to put a good fake on him that he bit on."

All three Avalanche players were caught deep after Lindback made a save and got the puck to Brad Richardson, who passed to Boedker.

"He's scored overtime goals, he's had a few of them, so you expect him to be around it," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "It's one thing to get the chances, it's another thing to capitalize, and that's what he's done. He's capitalized on his chances."

The win was the Coyotes' first in 15 games this season (1-12-2) when trailing after two periods.

Avalanche coach Patrick Roy wasn't happy with the way his team played in overtime, saying players stayed on the ice too long and didn't pay enough attention to defense.

"We should have kept the shifts a little shorter," Roy said. "We had a rush chance and we took a shot from a bad angle. Not only that, the three guys went to the net and the puck came back. That's not the type of game we want to play. We want one guy to be aware and stay back and be smart about it. We played like an all-star game in that 3-on- 3."

The Avalanche (17-17-2), who are 1-2 in overtime, closed to within four points of the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, but they've gone 0-1-1 since putting together a five-game winning streak.

"It's disappointing, no question," said Jarome Iginla, who gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 17:07 of the first period on a power play. It was his 10th goal of the season and 599th of his NHL career. "We did a lot of good things. I thought we played well (enough) to get the win."

Colorado's best scoring chance in overtime came from Francois Beauchemin, who shot the puck off the crossbar with 1:50 to go.

"You'd love to see that one go in," Iginla said.

The Coyotes tied the game in the third when Stone took a drop pass from Boedker at the top of the right circle and beat Varlamov high to the far side. It was his third of the season and first in 14 games.

"He had that goal that put us back in it and from there it was tight checking," Boedker said. "There was a lot of back-and-forth. We needed one shot to get back into it and we were able to find it."

Iginla scored after Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was given a double minor for high-sticking Alex Tanguay, who was assessed a roughing minor for retaliating.

Nathan MacKinnon took a shot that Lindback denied, but the rebound slid to the left slot. Iginla backhanded the puck and it hit Coyotes defenseman Klas Dahlbeck's skate in front and caromed into the far corner of the net.

Iginla has two goals and an assist in a three-game scoring streak after going nine games without a point.

"It's kind of a fluke," Lindback said. "I thought I was in the right position and it's just unfortunate. I like the way we responded."

The Avalanche killed all three Coyotes power plays after allowing three goals on three shorthanded situations last Monday in a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Coyotes right wing Steve Downie sustained what Tippett said is an upper-body injury. He didn't return after a fight with Andreas Martinsen at 12:23 of the second period.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --

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Actual Lineup

Colorado Avalanche lineup from this game