Canucks score 3 in 2:33, hand Avalanche 5th straight loss

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks rallied with three straight goals in 2:33 in the second period for a 4-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice in 1:59, Elias Pettersson had two assists and Collin Delia made 30 saves for the Canucks (17-18-3), who ended a three-game losing streak.
It's the second time this season Vancouver has come from behind to defeat the Avalanche after a 4-3 win at Colorado on Nov. 23.
"We've proven that this group can do it," said forward J.T. Miller, who also scored. "It's just about doing it on a regular basis and that being in our DNA as a team, and obviously we did it tonight, so [it] felt good."

Mikko Rantanen scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 39 saves for the Avalanche (19-15-3), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1) for the first time since Oct. 25 - Nov. 5, 2019.
"Regardless of the past five games, winning or losing, you have to go out and play your best hockey, otherwise you can't expect to win, and we're not holding up our end of the bargain on that right now," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said.
Kuzmenko made it 2-1 on the power play at 13:15 of the second with a backhand from the edge of the crease.
Kuzmenko then tied it 2-2 at 15:14, knocking in a loose puck at the side of the net after Pettersson attempted a wraparound.
Pettersson was named to the
2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game
earlier Thursday.
"Second goal is 'Thank you Petey for this good pass,'" Kuzmenko said. "I like the pass because as I score, I say 'Petey, Petey, you see my pass?'"

Kuzmenko, a 26-year-old forward in his first NHL season after eight seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, has 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 37 games.
"He was a big part of the win," Miller said. "He's got really good vision. I think he was a passer before he got here, but you guys know how hard he shoots the puck, he just fires it. And he's got a nose for the net, and obviously if he's going to play with Petey, he's just got to go there and it's going to end up on his stick."
Brock Boeser put the Canucks ahead 3-2 just 34 seconds later on a rebound in the slot after Georgiev stopped Bo Horvat in tight.
Delia stopped Darren Helm on a breakaway at 17:44, and Miller scored into an empty net at 18:24 for the 4-2 final.
"We all felt that we were playing a solid hockey game, even being down by two," Boeser said. "For the second (power-play) unit to go out there and get that goal, and then [Kuzmenko] scored again right after and then I scored after that, I think it just showed that we were committed and playing the right way, and being patient and sticking to our system. And it paid off."

Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 19:00 of the first period with a power-play wrist shot through traffic from the top of the right face-off circle.
Samuel Girard made it 2-0 at 1:49 of the second with another screen shot, this time from just inside the blue line, that appeared to deflect off Vancouver defenseman Luke Schenn standing in front of Delia.
"When you play pretty good in the first and then you score early in second, you have a 2-0 lead on the road, lost four in a row, you've got to try to keep it simple and just find a way to win," Rantanen said. "We got to find a way when we have a lead or it's tied to keep the urgency and find a way to chip away and not fall asleep."
The win came after Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau was pointed in his criticism of his team following a 6-2 loss against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
"We played a pretty detailed game," Boudreau said. "A lot of good things happened out there. But we've got to bottle that up and do it every game."
Vancouver was 1-for-7 on the power play; Colorado was 1-for-5.
"We've been taking a lot of penalties lately," said Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, who was named a Central Division All-Star for the second time. "We've been a relatively undisciplined team. "We know teams are going to give us their best game so we have to be prepared, and maybe we're putting ourselves in bad positions to make the refs make those calls."
NOTES: Colorado forward Evan Rodrigues missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury, but he skated Thursday morning in a non-contact jersey and could play Saturday at the Edmonton Oilers. … Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists, including his 300th in the NHL on Kuzmenko's first goal. … Horvat has four points (two goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak.