Avalanche slip past Devils with late goal
DENVER -- Francois Beauchemin scored the tiebreaking goal at 18:46 of the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Thursday night.
Nathan MacKinnon and Rene Bourque also scored, and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the Avalanche, who have won two straight for just the fourth time this season.
Taylor Hall and Stefan Noesen had goals for New Jersey, and Cory Schneider stopped 19 shots. The Devils lost their fifth straight and are 1-7-2 in their past 10.
Beauchemin shot from the left circle and beat Schneider high for his third of the season.
New Jersey pulled Schneider for an extra attacker in the final minute but couldn't tie it.
The Devils outshot Colorado 13-2 in the second period and had the first three shots of the third, the last of which ended a scoreless drought of 174 minutes, 51 seconds when Hall beat Pickard 42 seconds into the period to tie it at 1-1.
The Avalanche answered when Sven Andrighetto stole the puck from Miles Wood, fed Bourque in the slot, and Bourque scored his 11th of the season at 4:05 to give Colorado the lead again.
Noesen responded 2:08 later with his fifth of the season to make it 2-2.
New Jersey and Colorado are ranked 29th and 30th, respectively, in the NHL in goals this season, so it wasn't surprising that it took more than 31 minutes before anyone scored. MacKinnon provided the offense when his shot from the high boards nicked off a New Jersey player and through Schneider's legs at 11:11 of the second period.
It was his second straight game with a goal after going 15 straight without one. He has 14 goals on the season.
NOTES: The Avalanche were 0-for-3 on the power play a game after ending a drought Tuesday of 23 empty opportunities spanning 10 games. ... New Jersey D Andy Greene missed his fourth consecutive game. The Devils' captain left the team following the death of his father on Saturday but rejoined the club in Colorado on Thursday. However, he remained out. ... C Joe Colborne and D Cody Goloubef were scratched for the Avalanche. ... Devils C Jacob Josefson missed his fifth straight game due to an upper-body injury.