Avalanche win shootout for first time all season

Carl Soderberg scored in the sixth round of the shootout, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Denver on Wednesday night. Semyon Varlamov had 30 saves through overtime and stopped five more in the shootout to give the Avalanche a rare win after regulation. Colorado is now 2-12 in overtime and shootouts.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored regulation goals for the Avalanche. Colorado has gone 6-1-1 over its last eight games to move into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Jacob Markstrom had 43 saves but couldn't stop Soderberg in the shootout. Soderberg's shot went off Markstrom's glove and trickled in to give Colorado its first shootout win of the season in just two attempts.

The Canucks failed to gain ground in the tight race in the West. Vancouver is 3-6-3 over its last 12 games and sits five points behind Colorado. Antoine Roussel and Josh Leivo scored for the Canucks.

The Avalanche got on the board first with a strong play in the Vancouver end. Colin Wilson fought to keep the puck in the zone, and then got the puck to Sven Andrighetto at the right circle. He skated into the slot and fed MacKinnon, whose one-timer beat Markstrom at 8:19 of the first period. It was MacKinnon's 33rd of the season to tie Gabriel Landeskog for the team lead.

The Canucks quickly responded to get even when Alex Biega blasted a shot from the point to the front of the net, and Roussel tipped it past Varlamov at 9:13 of the first period. It was Roussel's eighth of the season.

Colorado got the lead late in the first period after Canucks forward Jay Beagle went off for interference. Vancouver almost cleared the zone but Landeskog kept it in at the blue line, and then fed Rantanen deep in the right circle. His sharp-angle shot beat Markstrom just inside the post at 18:26. It was Rantanen's 27th of the season.

It stayed that way until late in the third period when Leivo scored on a one-timer in the slot at 16:58 to tie it and send it to overtime. --Field Level Media