Final
Avs end skid with win over Sabres
Mar 29, 2015 - 3:44 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Duchene tallied a goal and two assists to help power the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.Tyson Barrie, John Mitchell, Marc-Andre Cliche and Brad Stuart also scored, Jarome Iginla chipped in with three assists and Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves for the Avalanche, who ended a three-game skid.
"I played no different tonight than I have been, but tonight everything clicked," said Duchene. "It was a tough road trip, hopefully, it's not too late for us."
Andrej Meszaros scored twice and Rasmus Ristolainen tallied a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who have dropped five straight games and 12 of their last 13. Anders Lindback gave up two goals on 12 shots and Matt Hackett allowed three goals in relief.
"You hate to have to play for pride now, but that's what we have to do," Meszaros said. "We have to keep playing hard."
Colorado has won its last nine games against Buffalo, with the Sabres last winning in the series on Dec. 4, 2005.
The Avalanche opened the scoring with a pair of goals in a span of 32 seconds during the first period.
Cody McLeod slipped a pass from behind the net to Cliche, who wristed a shot past Lindback from the slot at 10:47 and Mitchell deflected in Duchene's centering pass from the right side at 11:19 for a 2-0 lead.
In the middle stanza, Barrie made it a 3-0 game after taking a slick no-look backhand pass from and roofing a wrister over Hackett 3:29 into the frame. Duchene added to the lead with a wrister from the high slot three minutes later.
Meszaros got the Sabres on the board 3:09 into the third with a backhander and after Stuart responded for Colorado 1:39 later, the Sabres defenseman potted his second of the night with a slap shot at 5:29 for a 5-2 game.
Ristolainen pulled the Sabres within 5-3 at 8:43 as he followed up his initial shot and wristed the puck past Varlamov.
Game Notes
With an assist on Mitchell's goal, Iginla took sole possession of 40th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list with 1,222 points, surpassing Canadiens great Jean Beliveau ... The Sabres were without their leading scorer, forward Tyler Ennis, who suffered a left shoulder injury during Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to Arizona ... Colorado improved to 9-2-0 this season when wearing its alternate blue jerseys.
- BUFFALO: 3
COLORADO: 5
Final
Mar 28 11:28 PM - BUFFALO: 3
COLORADO: 5
End of Regulation
Mar 28 11:28 PM - BUFFALO: 0
COLORADO: 4
End of 2nd
Mar 28 10:34 PM - BUFFALO: 0
COLORADO: 2
End of 1st
Mar 28 9:43 PM - BUFFALO: 0
COLORADO: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Mar 28 9:09 PM
Related News
- Avalanche Prospects Mailbag: Panning for Gold Dec 26
- Recap: Avalanche dominate in much-needed get-right game against Arizona Dec 23
- Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Arizona Coyotes (7:00 p.m.) Dec 23
- Preview: Avalanche square off against Coyotes Dec 23
- Weekly Grades: MacKinnon Nichushkin Domination Edition Dec 22
- Recap: Nathan MacKinnon career night strikes down Sens Dec 22
- Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Ottawa Senators (7 p.m.) Dec 21
- Preview: A fight through the darkness Dec 21
- Why Devon Toews’ comments will fuel the Avalanche Dec 20
- Recap: Avs get Mrazek’d in Chicago Dec 20
- Open Thread: Colorado Avalanche vs. Chicago Blackhawks (6:30 p.m.) Dec 19
- Preview: Avalanche in the Windy City Dec 19