Bernier makes 34 saves, Avalanche shut out Blue Jackets

DENVER -- Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-0 at Pepsi Center on Thursday for their season-high fourth win in a row.
Bernier made 16 saves in the third period for his second shutout of the season and 16th of his NHL career.

Mikko Rantanen had a power-play goal in the second period, and Matt Nieto scored with 1:35 left in the third, his seventh goal of the season.
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"I didn't feel that great, but it's really good to get the win," Bernier said. "I thought we battled hard. It's never an easy game 1-0, but we played the right way, put the puck in deep and killed some time.
"I thought I was giving up a lot of rebounds. It was one of those nights where it's hard to find the puck, so you're just trying to be in good position and seal the bottom. I don't think I was as sharp as a lot of games I've played this year."
The Avalanche (21-16-3) have gone 4-1-0 in the first five games of a six-game homestand and are 9-3-1 in their past 13.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for the Blue Jackets (23-16-3), who went 1-1-0 on their two-game road trip and are 1-4-2 in their past seven on the road.
"We had some good looks," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "The first two periods, we just didn't have a lot of juice it seemed like. We moved the lines around, we got going in the third, the goalie made a couple of good saves, but we can't find a way."
Tortorella took responsibility for Nieto's goal. Bobrovsky was skating toward the bench when the Avalanche had possession, and he was scrambling back when Nieto moved in on the empty net.

"That is my fault on pulling the goalie," Tortorella said. "I need to wait until we get control."
Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 12:48 when his shot from the right circle nicked Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington and beat Bobrovsky to the stick side. It was Rantanen's 14th goal.
"He's a great goalie," Rantanen said. "We got the first goal, a lucky bounce, it was good for us. We should have had more traffic in front of him, but the win is the biggest thing.
"It wasn't the best game from us, but we managed to stay with it. We didn't give them too many Grade-A chances and Bernier played great in the net. It was tight until the empty-netter."
Bobrovsky credited his teammates for playing solid defense, especially in the third period when they spent significant time in the Avalanche end.
"It is what it was," he said. "Our guys played hard, they played strong defense. Sometimes you have to give the other side credit and deal with the result. The game was played in our zone the first two periods. We got things going in the third period. The guys tried and worked hard. They tried to score."

Goal of the game

Rantanen's power-play goal at 12:48 of the second period.

Save of the game

Bernier's shoulder stop on Lukas Sedlak at 2:35 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Nieto's goal into an empty net with Bobrovsky scrambling back at 18:25 of the third period.

They said it

"I thought he did a real nice job of making the first save and either smothering the puck or else using his stick to clear it. He had numerous ones that were laying there and he got active with his hands to clear pucks to the corner, keep it out of the danger area, which is real important, especially the way they crash the net." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on goalie Jonathan Bernier
"It's the mark of a good team. It's what you need to do if you want to make the playoffs, you have to get a streak going. Now we're four or five games above .500. It's looking good, but you can't get too comfortable." -- Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen
"It's hard to score late. We just tried to get as many shots on net as we could and get bodies there. We couldn't get one past them tonight. They stood tall and played well defensively. I just think we have to get more guys to the net and more shots. We have to do a better job getting pucks to the net and find a way to bang in some rebounds." -- Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski

Need to know

The Avalanche need one win and three points to match last season's totals of 22 wins and 48 points. ... They have won four in a row for the first time since Jan. 18-23, 2016. ... Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a four-game point streak. ... The Blue Jackets failed to convert three power plays and are 1-for-16 in the past five games.

What's next

Blue Jackets: Host the Florida Panthers on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-N+, NHL.TV)