Eurolanche

Pickard, Avalanche shut out Devils

Calvin Pickard made 26 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-0 at Pepsi Center on Thursday.

Pickard was making his second start of the season and first at home. He played 16 games for Colorado in 2014-15.

The Avalanche (22-20-3) ended a two-game losing streak during which they were outscored 10-3. Colorado is 10-10-3 at home.

The Devils (21-19-5) have lost five of their past six games and are 1-2-0 in the first three games of a four-game road trip that ends Saturday at the Arizona Coyotes.

The Avalanche got goals by Matt Duchene in the first period and Tyson Barrie in the second to take a 2-0 lead. Carl Soderberg scored into an empty net with 27.5 seconds remaining in the third period.

Duchene scored 51 seconds into the game on a 2-on-1 rush with Nick Holden. Duchene skated down right wing, took Holden's cross-ice pass and moved in alone on goalie Cory Schneider. He made a move in the slot below the hash marks, then chipped the puck by Schneider's stick.

Duchene has 22 goals, one more than he had last season in 82 games. He has five goals and two assists in the past six games.

Schneider kept the Devils within a goal at 12:26 when he made a glove save against Nathan MacKinnon on a breakaway.

Barrie scored a shorthanded goal at 7:55 of the second period with one second left on Holden's penalty for holding Kyle Palmieri. MacKinnon carried the puck into the Devils' zone and took a shot that Schneider deflected with his glove. The puck bounced in the crease, Barrie continued to the net on the right side and poked it inside the near post for his eighth goal. He has four goals and four assists in the past six games.

The Avalanche have scored four shorthanded goals this season; the Devils have allowed seven.

The Devils went 0-for-3 on the power play and are 0-for-15 in their past six games.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --

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