Avalanche 3, Panthers 2
Ryan O'Reilly recorded a goal and an assist as visiting Colorado shaded Florida for its fifth win in six games.
Paul Stastny and Jamie McGinn also tallied for the Avalanche, who bounced back nicely from a 5-2 thumping at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Semyon Varlamov stopped 34 shots en route to his 25th win of the season.
Scottie Upshall scored both goals for the Panthers, who failed to capitalize on back-to-back road wins over Pittsburgh and Buffalo earlier in the week. Defenseman Tom Gilbert notched two assists and Tim Thomas made 22 saves in defeat.
O'Reilly opened the scoring just 94 seconds into the game, corralling the puck after his initial shot caromed off the end boards and tucking it past Thomas for his career-best 19th goal. Stastny made it 2-0 in the closing minutes of the first period, gathering a pass from captain Gabriel Landeskog and beating Thomas to the glove side with a backhander.
Colorado extended the lead with seven minutes remaining in the second as McGinn converted a centering pass by O'Reilly from point-blank range. Upshall ended Varlamov's shutout bid 5:18 into the third, beating him with a chip shot from in close for his 100th career goal, and tallied again with 1:43 remaining to get Florida within one.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Varlamov is one victory shy of equaling his career high set during the 2011-12 season. ... O'Reilly has six goals in nine games this month. ... Avalanche F Alex Tanguay recorded an assist in his first action since Nov. 2. Tanguay had missed the previous 36 games with knee and hip injuries.