Canucks edge Avalanche for fourth straight win
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Sven Baertschi scored his second goal of the game at 16:23 of the third period and Daniel Sedin collected his 600th NHL assist as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday night to extend their winning streak to four.
The winning goal came with the Canucks on a power play after Colorado's Cody Goloubef was called for delay of game after shooting the puck over the glass.
Sedin received a pass from brother Hendrik Sedin and took a shot that Colorado goaltender Calvin Pickard stopped. Baertschi was there to put in the rebound.
Bo Horvat also scored for the Canucks (18-18-3). Henrik Sedin had two assists.
Vancouver climbed to .500 for the first time since Oct. 29. The Canucks, who are 6-2-1 in their last nine, haven't won four straight games since starting the season 4-0-0.
Vancouver still hasn't won back-to-back games in regulation.
Mikko Rantanen, on the power play, and Tyson Barrie scored the Avalanche, who lost their fourth straight. The Avs (12-24-1) have one win in their last 10 games (1-9-0).
Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller made 24 saves. Miller, who allowed three goals in his previous two starts, became the third U.S.-born goalie to win 350 games, joining John Vanbiesbrouck (374) and Tom Barrasso (369).
Pickard, making his fifth consecutive start, stopped 21 shots.
Barrie tied the score 2-2 with 11:42 gone in the third period on a shot from the blue line through traffic. It was his third goal of the season and first in 19 games.
The Canucks scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead.
Horvat notched the game's first goal at 4:48 of the second period.
The Canucks created a turnover near center ice, allowing Anton Rodin to push the puck ahead to Ben Hutton, creating a two-on-one breakaway with Horvat.
Hutton took his time, then passed past the sprawling Goloubef. Horvat beat Pickard with a high shot for his 11th goal of the season. Rodin picked up his first NHL assist.
Rantanen tied the score at 5:53 with the Avalanche on the power play. A poor clearing attempt by Vancouver's Markus Granlund allowed Nikita Zadorov to keep the puck in the Canucks' zone. He fed Rantanen, who beat Miller from the faceoff circle.
It was Colorado's first power-play goal in 26 attempts.
Baertschi restored the Canucks' lead at 18:15, just seconds after a Vancouver power play ended. He took Brandon Sutter's pass from behind the net and fired a shot over Pickard's glove.
A scoreless first period saw each team manage six shots on goal.
The Canucks had one of the best scoring chances after Zadorov turned over the puck at the blue line. That gave Loui Eriksson a breakaway, but Pickard made a right pad save.
NOTES: RW Alex Burrows missed the game with a scratched eye suffered in Vancouver's 3-2 win over Edmonton on Dec. 31. He still played almost 15 minutes in that game. ... RW Anton Rodin took his place on a line with LW Sven Baertschi and C Bo Horvat. ... D Andrey Pedan has been reassigned to the AHL Utica Comets. ... D Alex Biega was a healthy scratch. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Wednesday against Arizona. ... Colorado C Matt Duchene started on a line between RW Jarome Iginla and LW Mikko Rantanen. ... C Nathan MacKinnon started between RW Rene Bourgue and LW Gabriel Landeskog. ... G Semyon Varlamov (groin) skated on his own Sunday but did not make the two-game road trip. ... Healthy scratches were D Eric Gelinas and LW Andreas Martinsen. ... C Joe Colborne and D Cody Goloubef returned to the lineup after being scratches the last two games. ... The Avalanche play in Edmonton against the Oilers on Wednesday.