Avalanche defeat Coyotes with three power-play goals

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Colorado Avalanche scored four times in a 3:46 span of the second period in a 6-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Saturday.
Carl Soderberg, J.T. Compher, Nail Yakupov and Matt Nieto scored for the Avalanche in the second. Two were power-play goals after 52 penalty minutes were assessed at 8:52.

"Any time your best players stick up for one another I think it goes a long way in the locker room," Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson said. "We stepped up as a group after that."
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Coyotes highlights]
Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie left at 5:02 of the first period after blocking an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot with his right hand, forcing Colorado to play with five defensemen. Coach Jared Bednar said Barrie sustained a fracture in his right hand. Bednar did not have a timeline on Barrie's recovery.
Sven Andrighetto scored in the third period for Colorado (17-15-3), which won for the fifth time in eight games (5-2-1). Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves.
Derek Stepan scored two shorthanded goals for Arizona (8-25-5), which is 2-9-2 in its past 13 games.
"It's not easy to win in this league by any means," said Stepan, whose team won 3-2 against the Washington Capitals on Friday. "When you're in a back-to-back situation, you have to be at your sharpest. I thought we were sharp through a period and a half and then the wheels came off."
Soderberg gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 10:20 of the second period when his wrist shot from the high slot beat goalie Antti Raanta and caromed off the post and in.
Compher made it 2-0 at 11:36 when he beat Raanta to the short side from the left face-off circle on a power play.

Yakupov scored Colorado's second power-play goal when he banked the puck off Raanta's pads from the goal line to make to 3-0 at 13:26. Raanta was pulled and replaced by Scott Wedgewood.

"Our goalie was just OK tonight," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We're trying to stop momentum, trying to slow the game down and trying to reboot."
Nieto scored from the slot off a pass from Blake Comeau to make it 4-0 at 14:06.

Stepan made it 4-1 at 18:12. Clayton Keller had an assist to give him six points (two goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak.
Stepan cut the lead to 4-2 at 8:08 of the third period.
The last player to score two shorthanded goals in a game for Arizona was Tobias Rieder, who scored both on the same penalty kill, 58 seconds apart, in a 5-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 1, 2014.
Andrighetto scored Colorado's third power-play goal, at 8:37, for a 5-2 lead. Soderberg's second of the game made it 6-2 at 13:31.

Goal of the game

Soderberg's goal at 10:20 of the second period.

Save of the game

Varlamov's save on Jason Demers at 17:39 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Stepan's second shorthanded goal, at 8:08 of the third period.

They said it

"To get three tonight was really good, especially with what was going on on the bench with the short roster." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on scoring three power-play goals
"We're not happy with that game so it will be nice to hopefully get one back on them." -- Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun on playing the Avalanche again in Denver on Wednesday

Need to know

Coyotes forward Brad Richardson left with an upper-body injury at the end of the second period. Tocchet did not have an update. … Stepan leads the Coyotes with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 17 home games. ... The Avalanche killed five penalties and are 23-for-23 in the past eight games.

What's next

Avalanche: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT2, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT2, FS-A, NHL.TV)