Hurricanes 1, Avalanche 0
DENVER -- Center Victor Rask scored 1:49 into overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Goaltender Cam Ward made 26 saves, including a big one on right winger Jarome Iginla early in overtime, to notch the 23rd shutout of his career.
The Hurricanes got the win when Rask took a pass from defenseman Ryan Murphy and beat goaltender Semyon Varlamov with a backhander. It was his second of the season.
Varlamov made 18 saves.
Colorado center Matt Duchene had a great chance to end the game late in regulation when he had Ward face down but the goalie got a stick on the shot to make the save.
Both teams had few chances through the first two periods but the goalies came up with big saves when needed.
Varlamov, who didn't play the previous two games after going 1-2 with a 5.06 goals-against average to start the season, stopped center Elias Lindholm on an unobstructed shot midway through the second period.
His best save came later in the frame when right winger Kris Versteeg came in on a breakaway with 36 seconds left. Varlamov snared Versteeg's snap shot with his glove to keep it scoreless heading into the third.
Varlamov also had a save on center Nathan Gerbe's breakaway in the first period.
Ward stopped 15 shots through the first two periods and made a couple of saves on Duchene while the Avalanche were killing off a pair of minor penalties in the second.
Colorado's best chance, in the second period, was thwarted by an offside call on right winger Alex Tanguay even though replays showed he crossed into Carolina's zone after the puck.
The Hurricanes had a scary moment late in the second when defenseman John-Michael Liles took a skate to the face along the boards and left the ice. He returned later in the game.
NOTES: Avalanche D Tyson Barrie served the second of his three-game suspension for his hit on Anaheim D Simon Despres on Friday. He will also miss Saturday's game against Columbus. Barrie was replaced in the lineup by D Brandon Gormley, who made his Colorado debut. Gormley was acquired from Arizona on Sept. 9. ... Carolina D John-Michael Liles is the highest-scoring defenseman in Quebec/Colorado history. He had 275 points (68 goals, 207 assists) in 523 games over seven years with the franchise. ... Colorado C Mikhail Grigorenko made his home debut Wednesday. ... The Hurricanes recalled D Rasmus Rissanen from Charlotte of the AHL on Tuesday. He was a healthy scratch.