Avs Power Past Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--The Colorado Avalanche's power play was so hot Tuesday night that it was nearly unstoppable.
All five of Colorado's markers came during the man advantage, and the club erased a three-goal deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in overtime at Rogers Arena.

The Avalanche went 5-for-6 on man-up opportunities and scored on five of its six shots during those chances.
Nathan MacKinnon tallied the game-winner at 3:36 of overtime, one-timing a pass from Tyson Barrie at the left circle. MacKinnon finished with a goal and three assists, while Barrie recorded a marker and four helpers.
It was the fifth time in franchise history that Colorado had scored five power-play goals and first since the team moved to Denver in 1995. The last time the squad accomplished the feat was Dec. 27, 1991 when the Quebec Nordiques did it at the Ottawa Senators.
"We worked to earn some power plays," said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. "I mean six power plays, we haven't earned six power plays the last three or four games combined. That is just from hard work and hanging onto the puck and going into some tough areas and skating through sticks. The guys did a good job in order to get those opportunities."
Barrie tied the contest at 4-4 with 3:01 left in the third period when he scored on a similar shot as MacKinnon's, but he did it from the high slot to complete Colorado's three-goal comeback.
"We just wanted to be more aggressive," said MacKinnon, who tallied his 100th goal in the NHL. "I feel like we have been doing a poor job of utilizing [Barrie's] one-timer. He has a great shot, wrist shot and one-timers. We talked yesterday that we wanted to utilize that more, and it worked out tonight."

After trading goals in the first half of the second frame, Vancouver tallied three unanswered to take a 4-1 lead with less than five minutes left in the period. While it was a deep deficit, it wasn't insurmountable for the Avalanche.
Colorado began to chip away after receiving two power plays in the final 140 seconds of the stanza. The Avs tallied within a minute of each man-up chance, as Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog scored in a matter of 1:26 to cut the deficit to 4-3 going into the second intermission.
"We got some power-play goals late," MacKinnon said of the second period. "We just wanted to get one. We wanted to get one before the end of the second to get some momentum and hopefully spring a comeback. We worked for our power plays. We had a really good 5-on-5. I thought we had a lot of chances 5-on-5 as well."
Tyson Jost opened the Avs' scoring in the second period, which featured three man-advantage markers for Colorado. It was the first, three power-play goal period for the team since Oct. 12, 2011 at Ottawa (third period).
The Avalanche entered the contest 22nd in the NHL on the power play, converting on 18.5 percent of its chances. The Canucks were 23rd on the penalty kill at 78.6 percent.
Colorado had gone scoreless on the man advantage in its last three contests and only had one marker in its previous eight games.
"All those guys across the top of the umbrella were ready to attack the net, and that is what you need," Bednar said. "That is what good power plays do consistently. It dried up for us recently, but they certainly got back on track today."

HELP BARRIE-ING THE PUCK

Tyson Barrie had a hand in each of the Avalanche's goals, scoring once and assisting on four others.
He is the first defenseman in franchise history to record five points in a regular-season game, and he is just the eighth rear guard in league history to register five power-play points. Barrie is the fourth to accomplish it on the road.

"He was good. It is not just the points, he was defending with a purpose," Bednar said of the D-man. "He was using his body. He gets rewarded for playing a good all-around game I think. The decisions he's making in the offensive zone, especially on the power play, were really good."
Barrie's five-point performance set a new career high for a game. His four helpers were also a personal best.

JOST COMING ON

It took a bit of time, but the puck is finding the back of the net more regularly for Tyson Jost.
Jost tied the outing against the Canucks at 1-1 with a redirection in the slot for his seventh goal of the season and fourth in his last eight games.
The rookie had three goals and seven assists in his first 34 contests of the season. He is part of an Avalanche rookie class that had combined for 91 points (34 goals and 57 assists) entering Tuesday.

D-MEN BACK IN

Duncan Siemens and David Warsofsky suited up for their second games of the season on Tuesday night. The defensemen were back in the lineup after Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm got hurt in Sunday's contest versus the Edmonton Oilers.
The duo began the game as the Avs' third defensive pairing. Warsofsky played 12:42 while Siemens saw 10:22 of ice time.
"The new guys coming in on D; I think Warsofsky played a real good game. I thought Siemens was solid defensively," Bednar said after the contest.
Siemens was called up on Feb. 13, while Warsofsky was recalled on Monday. Siemens' last game came during his first stint with the Avs this season on Dec. 5 versus Buffalo. Warsofsky skated his lone outing on Jan. 25 at the St. Louis Blues.