Wrap-Up: Compher Scores Two Short-Handed Goals on Same Penalty Kill

J.T. Compher didn't tiptoe his way into his first game in nearly six weeks. Instead, he jumped right in with two short-handed goals in the first period.
Compher tallied twice in a matter of 1:25 during a Colorado Avalanche penalty kill to jumpstart the club in a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The forward is only the 20th NHL player since 1933-34 to score two short-handed markers in a span of two minutes or less and just the fourth to do it in the last 15 years.

"It has been awhile," Compher said of his return to the lineup. "It was good to get my feet wet in the first period."
The victory improves the Avs' record to 5-0-1 in their last six contests and completes a perfect three-game road trip through the Pacific Division. It is the first time the club has had a 3-0-0 trip since Dec. 12-15, 2015.
Compher was playing in his first game since Oct. 13 after missing 16 contests with a head injury, but he picked up where he left off prior to getting hurt. He recorded three goals and four points in his first five games of the season and tallied twice in the first nine minutes against the Coyotes to give the Avalanche the only lead the team would need.
"The first five minutes, they came out hard at us and [we] fell shorthanded there, and [then] the J.T. Compher show started," Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog said. "He took over the game. He gave us a nice little cushion."
The Northbrook, Illinois, native scored shorthanded with a wrist shot from the right circle at 7:28 after getting a pass from Matt Nieto and then on a breakaway at 8:53. Mikko Rantanen was serving the penalty after hooking Clayton Keller 7:15 into the first period.

Both of Compher's tallies came from slick shots, but his second one was especially nice as he flicked the puck top shelf over the glove of goaltender Antti Raanta.
"I was just trying to wait him out and see if he was going to make a move," Compher said of the goal. "I was able to get it over the glove. Good to get out there and help the team."
Compher joins a small list of players in franchise history that have tallied two shorties in the same game, with it last being done by then-rookie Ryan O'Reilly on Feb. 2, 2010 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. O'Reilly's two markers were also on the same penalty, but they came 3:15 apart as Paul Stastny was in the box for four minutes with double-minor, high-sticking infraction.
The Quebec Nordiques' Tony McKegney (Oct. 20, 1984 at Toronto) and Wilf Paiement (March 13, 1982 versus Chicago) also accomplished the feat in the club's annals, but Compher is the only player to tally twice on the same two-minute penalty kill.
It was Compher's third and fourth career short-handed goals, with his first two coming last season. His two tallies also marked his second career multi-goal outing (March 13, 2018 at the Minnesota Wild).
Compher finished the night with a 50-percent success rate at the faceoff circle (3-for-6) and 13:33 of ice time. He also played 55 seconds on the power play and 2:55 on the penalty kill.
"I didn't want to overuse him tonight coming back in, but I also wanted his play to dictate how much ice time he got," head coach Jared Bednar said. "Obviously, with that start, it was pretty good. He scores shorthanded twice in the same penalty kill, you don't see that very often, I think it is the first time someone has done it in our organization. It's pretty impressive."

BARRIE KEEPS STREAKING: Tyson Barrie's career-long assist streak is over, but his point streak is still alive.
Barrie scored 6:11 into the third period to push Colorado's lead to 4-0 and his point streak to seven games (three goals and six assists).
He has recorded three goals and 12 assists in his last 12 contests and has 20 points (three goals and 17 assists) the season. He is tied for fifth among all NHL blueliners in scoring.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Gabriel Landeskog celebrated his 26th birthday on Friday, but he provided himself with his own gifts with a goal and assist versus the Coyotes.
He now has three points (goal and two assists) in four career games on Nov. 23. He also registered a helper in the 2015 outing at the Winnipeg Jets.
Landeskog's assist came from an aerial pass midway through the first period, as he flipped the puck into the air from his own zone to spring Rantanen for a breakaway. His goal in third period was the result of him burying a loose puck in the crease to give the Avs a 5-1 lead.
The Avs captain is on a three-game point streak, with two goals and three assists.

CENTURY MILESTONE: Mikko Rantanen recorded his 100th career assist with a helper on Gabriel Landeskog's third period goal.
Rantanen, who continues to lead the NHL in scoring with 36 points, also tallied a goal in the game. He has 58 goals and 100 assists in 187 career games since Colorado picked him at No. 10 overall in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
He also had a career-high six shots on goal in the contest and is now on a three-game point streak (two goals and five assists), posting multiple points in each outing.
CAN STOP, WILL STOP: Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 37 saves and is now 5-0-2 in his last seven games.
"The guys made it black and white for me out there. It was easy to read," Grubauer said of his teammates. "[The Coyotes] didn't have much, and the stuff they had was pretty easy. Credit to those guys (the Avs) for playing the right way and playing defense."
Grubauer was making his second start of the road trip after he made 30 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory at the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.
"I thought he was great. He's strung together a couple nice games now," Bednar said of his goalie. "The one tonight, it was a pretty even game. You take out the couple minutes that we scored our goals in the first period, there were some good chances both ways."

MORE NOTES:Colorado has now scored an NHL-high 83 goals this season and its 3.77 goals-per-game average also ranks first in the league.
The Avs finished 1-for-5 on the power play and have notched a man-advantage tally in each of their last three games. Colorado was 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) over its three-game journey and owns the top-ranked power play in the league (24-for-75, 32.0 percent).
Colorado is now 2-1-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets this season. The team hosts the Dallas Stars on Saturday at Pepsi Center.
Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists to bring his point total to 33 (14 goals, 19 assists) and pass Connor McDavid to take sole possession of second place in the league in scoring.