Avalanche 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT)
Ryan O'Reilly scored 4:58 into overtime and Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned aside a season-high 39 shots as the Colorado Avalanche maintained their home mastery of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-3 triumph on Friday.
Paul Stastny recorded a goal and an assist and rookie Gabriel Landeskog and captain Milan Hejduk also scored for Colorado, which has won two in a row to move to within one point of the eighth-place Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference standings.
The Avalanche have not lost to the Carolina franchise in 10 straight contests in the Rocky Mountains. The streak stretches back to 1996 when the Hurricanes were known as the Hartford Whalers.
In overtime, Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk's turnover resulted in O'Reilly rushing in on the left wing and blasting a shot between the pads of Cam Ward. His 15th goal of the season sent the Pepsi Center into a frenzy.
Captain Eric Staal collected a goal and an assist and Tim Brent and Jiri Tlusty also tallied for Carolina, which fell to 2-0-2 in its last four games.
Colorado leveled the contest on three occasions - with the last one coming on Stastny's 14th goal of the season with exactly one minute left in the second period. The Avalanche pressed for their first lead - only to be denied by Ward on a pair of shorthanded bids in the third period.