Eurolanche

Soderberg, Varlamov help edge Jets

Carl Soderberg had a goal and an assist and Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Monday.

Soderberg scored for Colorado early in the second period before setting up Jarome Iginla's power-play goal with 17.3 seconds left in the second. With 602 career goals, Iginla moved ahead of Jari Kurri into sole possession of 18th place in NHL history.

Varlamov lost his bid for his second shutout of the season with 41.6 seconds left on Joel Armia's goal with an extra skater.

The win moved Colorado (23-21-3) one point past the idle Nashville Predators into fifth place in the Central Division. The Avalanche are 10-3-1 against the Central Division, including wins in each of their three games against the Jets.

"I think the entire team played well," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "It was an important game for us, and it was important to win that hockey game. I thought we were really strong for at least a good 50 minutes."

Connor Helleybuyck made 32 saves for Winnipeg (21-21-3), which has lost three of its first five home games in a stretch of nine of 10 at MTS Centre this month. The Jets are 6-11-1 against the Central Division.

"I really liked our first and third periods," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "We had enough offense there to have a better result in a tight game. There wasn't a whole lot of easy offense to be had." Winnipeg outshot Colorado 7-1 in the first 11 minutes of the game.

"That was the plan," Jets forward Mathieu Perreault said. "We came out hard. We had our chances. Some nights if you don't put them in, it comes back and haunts you."

Soderberg's goal gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. Blake Comeau's left-side shot bounced into the low slot, where the puck eventually reached Soderberg, and he muscled past Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom before poking the loose puck past Hellebuyck at 1:16. Soderberg has two goals in his past three games. Colorado is 19-9-2 when it scores first. "When you get a lead, it's so much easier," Soderberg said.

Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler's offensive-zone interference minor set up Colorado's second power play with 1:12 remaining in the second period. Soderberg sent a pass from the edge of the crease to the left circle for Iginla, who hesitated before putting a rising shot past Hellebuyck. Colorado's power play had been scoreless in the previous four games (0-for-9)

"It was a big goal for the power play," Iginla said. "We had gotten some chances. To get one there and be able to go into the third up 2-0 in a big game, it felt good as a group." Winnipeg outshot Colorado 16-8 in the third period. The Avalanche blocked 21 shots in the game, 11 in the third period. "In the third, we did what we had to do," Iginla said. "They had a good push, and we held them off."

-- by Patrick Williams for NHL.com --

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