Avalanche 3, Devils 0
DENVER -- Goaltender Calvin Pickard made 27 saves for his first career shutout, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 3-0on Thursday night.
Centers Matt Duchene and Carl Soderberg and defenseman Tyson Barrie scored for Colorado (22-20-3), which gained two valuable points in the tight Western Conference playoff race.
Goalie Cory Schneider had 23 saves for the Devils, who have lost five of six. They can finish 2-2 on the current road trip with a win in Arizona on Saturday.
New Jersey (21-19-5) played just 11 forwards because of the absence of right winger Jordin Tootoo. Tootoo suffered a head injury in Tuesday's loss at St. Louis.
Colorado coach Patrick Roy shook up his defensive corps after Tuesday's 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
He recalled a pair of 20-year-olds Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras and waived Nate Guenin. The two rookies didn't register a point but the team seemed to get the message with a better defensive effort.
Pickard led the way with his second win in six games this season. He wasn't tested much early but faced a barrage of shots midway through the third period when New Jersey was trying to get back into the game.
Duchene gave Colorado a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds into the game. Left wing Gabriel Landeskog stole the puck near center ice, defenseman Nick Holden picked it up and passed it to Duchene streaking down the middle. He put the puck high to the stick side of Schneider for the fastest goal to start a game for Colorado this season.
It was Duchene's 22nd of the year. He had 21 in 82 games last season.
Barrie made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at 7:55 of the second when he poked in center Nathan MacKinnon's rebound. It was his eighth of the season.
Schneider came off for an extra skater with 2:36 remaining and Soderberg scored into the empty net at 19:32.
NOTES: New Jersey LW Bobby Farnham served the first of his four-game suspension Thursday night. Farnham was suspended for his hit against St. Louis LW Dmitrij Jaskin on Tuesday. ... New Jersey RW Jordin Tootoo was fined $2,000 by the NHL for a violation of the diving-embellishment rule. Tootoo was cited for a violation in the third period of a game against Detroit. He was fined because it was his second offense of the season. ... Avalanche D Chris Bigras made his NHL debut Thursday. Bigras was recalled along with fellow D Nikita Zadorov on Wednesday. In corresponding moves, D Erik Johnson (knee) was placed on IR retroactive to Jan. 4 and D Nate Guenin was placed on waivers. ... Devils LW Tuomo Ruutu returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. ... Colorado C Chris Wagner centered the third line after being a healthy scratch for 14 games. C Mikhail Grigorenko and D Andrew Bodnarchuk were scratched.