Barrie leads Avs past Pens
DENVER -- Tyson Barrie scored two goals, Semyon Varlamov had 30 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Monday night.
J.T. Compher and Mikko Rantanen also scored and Sven Andrighetto had two assists for Colorado, which swept the season series from the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions.
The Avalanche (16-15-2) played without top defenseman and ice-time leader Erik Johnson, who served the first of his two-game suspension for boarding Vladislav Namestnikov in Saturday's loss to Tampa Bay.
Chad Ruhwedel had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin also scored and Matt Murray had 33 saves for Pittsburgh (17-15-3).
The Avalanche took control with a pair of goals in the second period. Barrie broke a 1-1 tie with his second of the game after Pittsburgh's Ian Cole went off for crosschecking. His shot from the point went through teammates and Penguins players and beat Murray at 5:56 of the second.
Colorado took a 3-1 lead into the third after Compher scored at 18:20 of the second. The center knocked Andrighetto's rebound out of the air and past Murray. It was Compher's fifth goal of the season and his first in nine games.
Malkin cut Pittsburgh's deficit to one with his 11th goal 1:25 into the third, and the Penguins put pressure on Colorado the rest of the period. Their best chance to score came in the last six minutes when Ryan Reaves hit the post on a rebound shot.
Murray came off for an extra skater in the final two minutes and Rantanen scored into the empty net at 18:27.
Barrie gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 5:04 of the first and Ruhwedel's shot right off a faceoff hit Varlamov and trickled through the goalie at 10:39 of the first to tie it.
NOTES: Penguins RW Patric Hornqvist was sent back to Pittsburgh for further evaluation of his upper-body injury suffered in Saturday's 4-2 win In Arizona. Hornqvist has 11 goals and 10 assists in 31 games this season. ... Colorado C Alexander Kerfoot returned to the lineup after missing three games with a foot injury. Kerfoot was hurt by a shot from teammate Erik Johnson in the game in Pittsburgh on Dec. 11. ... Pittsburgh C Dominik Simon was scratched due to illness. ... Johnson is the second key Avalanche player to be suspended this season. Captain Gabriel Landeskog served a four-game suspension in November.