Baertschi leads Canucks past Avs
DENVER -- Sven Baertschi scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Markus Granlund also scored and Jacob Markstrom had 30 saves for Vancouver.
The Canucks (23-20-6) are now 2-6-2 in their last 10 road games and two of their six wins away from home have come in Colorado.
Matt Nieto and Mikko Rantanen had goals and Calvin Pickard stopped 38 shots for the Avalanche (13-31-2), who have lost seven straight.
The Pepsi Center has been a favorite place for visiting teams. The Avalanche are 1-14-2 at home since Nov. 15.
The Avalanche trailed entering the third when Nieto tied the game at 2-2 at 6:18. Baertschi put the Canucks ahead again on the power play with this second goal of the game at 11:46. It is the second time in as many games against Colorado he has scored two goals.
Vancouver jumped over the Los Angeles and Calgary in the Western Conference standings and now sits in the second wild card position. The Canucks are a point up the Flames, and they have played two fewer games than Calgary.
Avalanche center Matt Duchene, who missed Monday's loss with a stomach virus, assisted on Nieto's goal. Duchene talked openly about trade rumors with reporters after Wednesday's morning skate.
"The trade rumor stuff is part of the business," he said. "I've said it before, I understand at this juncture of the season the way things are going, something may happen, something may not. We'll see."
Baertschi gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead when he backhanded a loose puck from in front of the Colorado net past Pickard at 6:55 of the first. It was his 12th goal of the season and first in nine games.
Granlund jumped on a turnover by Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov behind the Colorado net and stuffed it between Pickard's skate and the post at 7:04 of the second. It was his 12th goal of the season.
The Avalanche cut the lead in half when Nathan MacKinnon stuffed a shot by Zadorov through Markstrom's pads and Rantanen knocked it in at 16:28 of the second period. The goal was Rantanen's seventh of the season.
NOTES: Colorado F Matt Duchene said the stomach bug that kept him out of Monday's game had bothered him since Saturday. He said he made "multiple trips" to the emergency room Monday. He didn't practice Tuesday but was back in the lineup Wednesday. ... Vancouver D Alexander Edler was in the lineup after suffering an upper-body injury in Chicago on Sunday. ... The Avalanche recalled F Jim O'Brien from San Antonio of the AHL on Tuesday. O'Brien was brought up in case Duchene wasn't available after Colorado rolled with only 11 forwards on Monday. ... D Jordan Subban and C Reid Boucher were healthy scratches for Vancouver. ... Colorado D Francois Beauchemin played his 800th game.