Avs beat Ducks for another early win
DENVER -- Tyson Barrie scored a tiebreaking power-play goal late in the third period, and the surprising Colorado Avalanche beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 for their fourth win in five games to start the season on Friday night.
Gabriel Landeskog also scored and Nikita Zadorov sealed the win with an empty-netter with .5 seconds left.
Mikko Rantanen and Sven Andrighetto had two assists each for Colorado, and Jonathan Bernier had 17 saves against his former team.
Colorado played most of the game without star center Nathan MacKinnon because of a right eye injury suffered in the first period. MacKinnon was hurt when Anaheim center Derek Grant's stick came up and hit him under the visor.
He was helped off the ice by a trainer and ruled out at the start of the second period.
Brandon Montour scored the lone goal for Anaheim and Reto Berra had 19 saves in relief of John Gibson. Gibson made 17 saves in the first period before Berra came on at the start of the second. Apparently Gibson aggravated an upper-body injury suffered in warmups.
The Avalanche (4-1) had eight power plays and killed off two penalties but still needed some late heroics to squeak out the win. With Montour off for slashing, Rantanen fed Barrie at the point, and the defenseman's one-timer beat Berra on the glove side at 14:21 of the third.
The Ducks (2-2) were in survival mode for the first 42 minutes but were tied 1-1 after Montour scored a short-handed goal at 2:14 of the third. It was just Anaheim's 11th shot and Montour's first of the season.
The Avalanche had five power plays in the first period, including 19 seconds of a 5-on-3, but managed just one goal. Landeskog got it on a wraparound at 11:58 of the frame to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. It was his second of the season.
The Avalanche had two goals waved for goaltender interference. The first came at 2:02 of the second period and the second occurred midway through the third when rookie Alexander Kerfoot knocked into Berra as J.T. Compher's shot went in.
NOTES: Anaheim C Ryan Getzlaf was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. The Ducks said he is day-to-day. Getzlaf missed the first two games of the season and made his debut Monday against Calgary. He has two assists. ... Avalanche C Tyson Jost was ruled out of Friday's game as well as Saturday in Dallas with a hyperextended left knee. Jost suffered the injury in Wednesday's win over Boston but returned to score an empty-net goal. The knee injury isn't expected to keep him out long term. ... Ducks LW Nick Ritchie returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury.