Matt Duchene lifts Avalanche to win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Duchene scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, to help the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

The Avalanche (4-3-0), who had lost three of four, were shut out 1-0 by the Winnipeg Jets in Denver on Friday and went 100:14 without a goal before Duchene scored his first of the night to tie it 1-1.
"We needed this one. It was a big one for us," Duchene said. "We didn't want to sink below .500. We felt robbed a little bit last night and frustrated not scoring. But we found goals when we needed them tonight."
Colorado goalie Calvin Pickard made 24 saves in his second start of the season.

Rene Bourque scored on the power play 1:42 into the third period to give the Avalanche their first lead at 2-1. Nathan MacKinnon slipped a pass from behind the net to Bourque, who beat goalie Louis Domingue for his 300th NHL point.
At 11:24, Duchene scored from the top of the right circle to make it 3-1. His wrist shot went in off Domingue's glove for his fifth goal, all of them in the past four games.
"Matt was good tonight. Hard on pucks, and he kept his feet moving down low and made some plays that end up being goals," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We played well (against Winnipeg), but you just have to stick with it, build chance, and if you do, you're eventually going to get a goal, and that's what happened."
Radim Vrbata and Tobias Rieder scored for the Coyotes (2-6-0), who have lost six of seven. Domingue made 31 saves and is 1-5-0 in six starts since No. 1 goalie Mike Smith was injured Oct. 18.
Max Domi set up Vrbata with a pretty pass at the hash marks for a goal at 14:57 of the first period to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. It was Vrbata's fourth goal in the past five games.
"Vrbata's goal is a good play for us, but we didn't have much push after that," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "That line was pretty good, but not much else."
Duchene tied it 1-1 at 5:51 of the second period. Mikhail Grigorenko missed a deflection chance in front of the net but retrieved the puck behind the net and centered it to Duchene for a spin-o-rama backhand shot past Domingue.
Rieder scored his second goal of the season with 4:04 remaining to make it 3-2.

Goal of the game

The Coyotes quickly passed the puck from their end to the Avalanche zone. Martin Hanzal dropped it back to Domi just inside the blue line, and Domi drew the defender to him before sliding a pass across to Vrbata at the right hash marks for a shot that beat Pickard to the blocker side.

Save of the game

Domingue had one or two shots he might want back, but he got just enough of his glove on defenseman Tyson Barrie's wrist shot from the right faceoff dot at 5:19 of the third period when the Avalanche came in on a 3-on-1 shorthanded chance.

Unsung moment of the game

With Colorado leading 2-1 with 10:41 remaining, Pickard got just enough of Hanzal's shot from the slot with his shoulder to deflect the puck up and have it hit off the crossbar. "He shot it quickly from close to his feet, and I got a little bit of it and a good bounce," Pickard said.

Highlight of the game

Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson patiently waited until Rieder broke open in the middle of the ice and slipped a pretty pass to him for the breakaway goal that pulled Arizona to within 3-2.

They said it

"It's always fun to play against him, and obviously we chat a lot and he's been a great mentor for me. It's always good to catch up with him." -- Avalanche forward Matt Duchene on playing against his uncle, Coyotes assistant coach Newell Brown
"We moved the puck as well as we did all season. We had good chances, good looks, and it just didn't go in." -- Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata on their power play going 0-for-4

Need to know

Arizona defenseman Michael Stone missed the game with an upper-body injury. The Coyotes juggled their defense pairs, playing Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski together for the first time. … Arizona forward Shane Doan played in his 1,474th NHL game, tying Doug Gilmour for 21st place on the all-time list. Colorado forward Jarome Iginla, who is 20th, played in his 1,481st game. … Duchene's two goals give him 161 with Colorado, moving him past Paul Stastny for ninth in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history.

What's next

Avalanche:Home against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Home against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)