Avalanche 5, Red Wings 4
Matt Duchene scored two of Colorado's four first-period goals as the Avalanche chased Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard en route to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Red Wings on Monday night.
Duchene's 17th and 18th goals of the campaign helped the Avalanche build a 4-2 advantage after 20 minutes, forcing Howard out of the game after he stopped just six of 10 shots he faced. David Jones added a second-period goal and Colorado held on from there to win for just the third time in the past nine games.
Paul Stastny and Kevin Porter also had goals for the Avalanche while Peter Budaj turned aside 26 shots for his second straight victory.
Jan Mursak, Brian Rafalski, Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg replied for the Red Wings, who fell to 3-1 on their five-game road trip. The trek concludes Friday in Columbus with the opener of a home-and-home series against the Blue Jackets.
Niklas Lidstrom added a pair of assists in the loss, and now has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) over his last 10 games.