Senators defeat Avalanche for sixth straight win

DENVER -- Alexandre Burrows and Mike Hoffman each had a goal and an assist to help the Ottawa Senators defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 at Pepsi Center on Saturday and move into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Goalie Craig Anderson had 14 saves for his 147th win with Ottawa (39-22-6), which swept a three-game road trip and has won six consecutive games. Anderson passed Patrick Lalime for the most wins in Senators history.
Ottawa and the Montreal Canadiens each have 84 points. The Senators have one game in hand.

WATCH: All Senators vs. Avalanche highlights
"Patrick's a great guy," said Anderson, who faced a season-low 16 shots. "I've met him numerous times. I remember watching him in Ottawa when I was coming up and trying to break into the League. Great guy, great goaltender, and it's an honor to be right there next to him.
"It was one of the better games that we've played. We stifled them defensively, we didn't give them much. Overall, we kept them to the outside, and they just didn't want to take low-percentage shots. They were trying to make that extra play, and our guys did a great job of clogging up the middle."

Fredrik Claesson, Burrows and Hoffman scored in the second period, when Ottawa took a 3-1 lead. Ryan Dzingel scored at 11:22 of the third when he tipped in a Burrows shot for a 4-1 lead.
Matt Nieto and Sven Andrighetto scored for the Avalanche (19-45-3), who went 2-2-0 on a four-game homestand. Colorado's 16 shots on goal matched its season low with four in the second period and two in the third.
"We couldn't break out," Nathan MacKinnon said. "They were all over us. I don't think we had any controlled entries. Every time we got the puck, we were flat-footed and we had to chip it in. It's no fun playing like that, just dumping every puck in."
Claesson tied the game 1-1 at 10:41 with a shot from above the right hash marks that beat goalie Calvin Pickard to the glove side for his second goal of the season.
Burrows put Ottawa ahead 2-1 at 15:35 with a power-play goal. Hoffman set up Burrows on the doorstep for his 13th goal, fourth in six games since being acquired in a Feb. 27 trade from the Vancouver Canucks.

"This year, I've gotten a few breaks along the way, for some reason bounces are going in against this team," said Burrows, who scored three goals in two games against Colorado after the trade. "The team played well tonight, we were good structurally, we didn't give up a whole lot and we neutralized their speed. Once we took over in the second, I thought we did a really good job."
Hoffman made it 3-1 at 18:54, scoring from near the right-wing boards when his shot bounced off Pickard into the net.
"We have had a strong last two weeks, but all we are focused on right now is getting points right now collecting as many as we can to try and set ourselves up for the playoffs," said Hoffman, who has 21 goals this season, three in his past 10 games.
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on Nieto's goal at 9:38 of the first period when he deflected Cody Goloubef's shot by Anderson for his fifth goal of the season, first in 18 games.
Andrighetto scored a power-play goal with 11.1 seconds left in the third period to make it 4-2.

Goal of the game

Hoffman skated back and forth near the left-wing boards and moved away from Colorado's Blake Comeau before setting up Burrows.

Save of the game

Pickard kicked out his right leg to deny Ottawa forward Zack Smith on a shot from the slot off the rebound of a Chris Wideman shot at 9:35 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Claesson forced Pickard to make a save on a backhand shot at 5:10 of the first period by spinning around in front after a pass from Dzingel hit his left skate in the slot with Colorado's Joe Colborne defending him.

Unsung performance of the game

Wideman had eight shots on goal and two takeaways in 13:17.

They said it

"It's fun to come into a group that's got a total buy-in in what the coaching staff is trying to sell. Everybody's on the same page, everybody knows where they have to go. We're learning fast on the go, and guys have made it easy for us to understand the system." -- Senators forward Alexandre Burrows, who was acquired Feb. 27 in a trade from the Vancouver Canucks
"They did a real good job, you have to give them credit. For me, I don't think we had enough guys tugging on the rope tonight." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on the Senators defense

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Need to know

Senators forward Mark Stone did not play because of a lower-body injury he sustained Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes. ... Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson had two assists and has eight points (three goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak ... Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.

What's next

Senators: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, SUN, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: At the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (10 p.m. ET; FS-A, ALT, NHL.TV)