Avalanche 2, Kings 1 (SO)
Milan Hejduk scored in the shootout and Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves as the Colorado Avalanche continued their amazing success in the bonus format with a 2-1 victory over the host Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Hejduk improved to 5 for 7 this season when he beat Jonathan Quick between his legs in the first round as Colorado improved to 7-0 in shootouts in 2011-12 and has won 18 of its last 19 in the bonus format.
Varlamov was sharp right up to his game-ending stop on Dustin Brown as Colorado won its third straight on the road after losing nine in a row and snapped a four-game losing streak at Los Angeles.
The Avalanche, who won at Anaheim 4-2 on Saturday, swept a two-game trip to Southern California for the first time in team history.
Brown scored in the second period and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves for the Kings, who fell to 4-1-2 with Darryl Sutter as coach.
Ryan O'Reilly made overtime and the shootout possible when he beat Quick with a wrist shot to his blocker side just inside the far post with 5:43 left in the third period.
Varlamov kept Colorado in the game with several big stops, including a gem in the second period when he robbed defenseman Jack Johnson with a right pad save on the door step.
Brown banged home the rebound of Anze Kopitar's wrap-around attempt at
1:34 of the second period. Kopitar has 15
points in his last 11 games against Colorado.
The Kings dominated play for large chunks, especially in the first two periods when they outshot the Avalanche 21-12. Los Angeles appeared to take a 1-0 lead at 3:36 of the first, but it was ruled Justin Williams' stick was above the crossbar when he deflected Johnson's shot from the point past Varlamov.
The Kings killed Colorado's only power play and have extinguished 27 straight shorthanded situations.