Canucks 3 - 2 Avalanche
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Raymond lifts Canucks over Avs in SO

Feb 5, 2012 - 12:01 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Mason Raymond scored the lone goal in the shootout, as the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, at Pepsi Center.

The Avalanche were in position snap their skid, staring at an empty net with a lead in hand, but Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa made a diving stop on T.J. Galiardi's bid to cement the win.

"I just wanted to get my body in front of it. I just didn't want it to take a bad bounce," Bieksa said.

Moments later, it was Bieksa sending the game to overtime as his shot from between the circles eluded Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 34.1 seconds remaining.

After the five-minute session, Raymond, the fourth shooter in the tiebreaker, sped down the right wing and beat Giguere with a shot through the pads. Vancouver's Roberto Luongo then turned away a backhander from Ryan O'Reilly to secure the additional point and hand Colorado its fifth consecutive loss, all by one goal.

Luongo made 44 saves for the Canucks, who have won four of their last five games.

Giguere stopped 27 shots for Colorado, which had been 7-0 in shootouts this season and had won 10 straight dating back to last season. The Avalanche fell one shy of tying the NHL record for consecutive shootout wins set by Dallas during the 2005-06 campaign.

Ryan Kesler opened the scoring when he fired a shot past Giguere 3:31 into the contest.

Colorado finally halted an extended scoring drought against the Canucks as David Jones replied on a power play at the 9:14 mark of the first period.

"Paul Stastny made a great pass and I was open in front," Jones said.

The last time Vancouver surrendered a goal to the Avalanche was last March. The Canucks won 3-0 on November 23 in Denver and 6-0 at home on December 6.

Jay McClement put Colorado on top when he took a feed from Daniel Winnik, whose strong forecheck created a turnover, and beat Luongo at 3:39 of the second period.

Game Notes

Vancouver improved to 4-11-5 when trailing after two periods this season...Colorado fell to 2-12-1 against Northwest Division opponents...Raymond played in his 300th career game...Colorado rookie forward Gabriel Landeskog registered nine shots on goal...The Canucks have compiled a 12-0-2 mark in the last 14 meetings in this series.






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