The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to five games with a gritty 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday.
Matt Duchene and Brandon Yip gave the home team a winning advantage early in the second period and the Avalanche held off a furious onslaught after Cody Franson had halved the deficit to seize sole possession of the Northwest Division lead.
“It’s great,” Duchene told reporters. “It’s right where we want to be, especially with Vancouver playing well and creeping up on us. This was our game in hand, and it’s huge to win it.”
Craig Anderson made 29 saves, including 13 in the third period, as Colorado (29-15-6) registered a first win of the season against the Predators.
The victory continues a considerable turnaround for Colorado, who finished last in the Western Conference a year ago but are third following this victory.
The Predators (29-19-3) pushed them close and thought they had leveled the scores at 2-2 with seven minutes, 31 minutes remaining only for the score to be canceled out as Patric Hornqvist was penalized for goalie interference.
“I may have touched him a little bit, but I wasn’t sure if he was outside the blue [crease] or not,” Hornqvist said. “The ref made the call, and that’s life sometimes. I didn’t run into him, maybe backed into him. It’s a hard situation.”
All three of the game’s goals were scored on power-plays, with Duchene’s opening goal coming on a five-on-three advantage at 13 minutes, 46 seconds in the first.
CANADIENS 3, DEVILS 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Mathieu Darche had the go-ahead goal and an assist as Montreal ended a three-game losing streak by downing New Jersey.
Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves while Benoit Pouliot and Michael Cammalleri also scored for Montreal.
Zach Parise scored the only goal for the Atlantic Division-leading Devils. Stuttering New Jersey has seen its divisional lead sliced to four points.
STARS 4, OILERS 3
In Edmonton, Alberta, James Neal’s goal with 22 seconds left saw Dallas snap a 10-game, road-losing streak and beat struggling Edmonton.
The Oilers have lost 10 straight — their worst losing streak since a dozen defeats in 2006 and 2007.
Down 3-2, Edmonton appeared to force overtime when Sam Gagner was credited with his second goal of the game after Mike Modano kicked the puck into his net with one minutes, two seconds to play.
But soon after, Jason Strudwick’s clearing attempt went straight to Neal’s stick, and he netted his 20th of the season.
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