Canucks defeat Avalanche in shootout

DENVER -- Markus Granlund scored the lone shootout goal to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Saturday.
The Canucks (9-11-2), who lost 2-1 to the Dallas Stars on Friday, went 2-1-0 on a three-game road trip.

"Hockey-wise, it's a really good trip for us," said Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom, who made 33 saves, four in overtime. "We have to win these road trips."
Markstrom, who last played Nov. 19 in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, stopped Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Matt Duchene in the shootout.
WATCH: All Canucks vs. Avalanche highlights
"I haven't played in a while so I felt really fresh," Markstrom said. "I thought the guys really battled. It was almost shocking [neither team scored] in the overtime with all the chances."
Calvin Pickard made 29 saves for the Avalanche (9-10-1), three in overtime, and he stopped Loui Eriksson in the shootout after Granlund skated down left wing to score in the first round.
"Granlund comes in and I've seen him in the American [Hockey] League a few times," Pickard said. "A lefty coming in at that angle, the 5-hole is a bit of an option. I thought I had it, I got a piece of it with my stick, but obviously not enough, so we were behind the 8-ball after round one."

Vancouver took a 2-1 lead at 1:26 of the third period when Alexandre Burrows scored his fourth goal following Bo Horvat's cross-ice pass.
Colorado made it 2-2 at 3:56 when Jarome Iginla scored from the left point through a screen for his third goal and 614th of his NHL career.
The Avalanche tied the game 1-1 at 11:15 of the second period on a goal by Mikhail Grigorenko. Carl Soderberg skated down right wing to the net and took a shot that Markstrom stopped. The puck bounced around in the goal mouth and Grigorenko scored his second goal of the season.

Eriksson gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 3:46 of the first period. He skated down left wing and beat Pickard to the short side with 15 seconds remaining on Nikita Zadorov's tripping penalty.

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Goal of the game

After faking a shot at the left point as Canucks forward Michael Chaput spun around, Iginla put a wrist shot through traffic that beat Markstrom to the far side.

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Save of the game

Markstrom stretched to his left to make a glove stop against Duchene breaking in alone at 1:22 of overtime.

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Highlight of the game

Horvat used his speed to skate down left wing before passing across to Burrows for a one-timer from the slot that beat Pickard for a 2-1 Canucks lead.

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Unsung moment of the game

The Canucks killed all four Avalanche power plays, the final one that started at 5:39 of the third period in a 2-2 game when defenseman Nikita Tryamkin was penalized for hooking.

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They said it

"It's tough to lose in a shootout, but they want to win as much as we do and their goalie was playing really well. He made some big stops in overtime and in the shootout." -- Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard
"It was unreal. We've seen it before, we see it every day in practice the way he prepares, the way he works, it's great. Tonight he got rewarded. He made some big saves, especially in overtime, and he was our first star." -- Canucks right wing Alexandre Burrows on goalie Jacob Markstrom
"It gets to a shootout and it's a coin toss for me at that point. We need to score a goal if we're going to win it in a shootout." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

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Need to know

Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and didn't return. "He'll go back and get X-rays," coach Willie Desjardins said. ... Vancouver is 2-1 in shootouts; it was Colorado's first of the season. ... Colorado is 1-for-17 on power plays in the past seven games. ... MacKinnon fell and slid hard into the boards behind the Vancouver net 22 seconds into the second period. He skated to the bench under his own power, returned shortly and finished with a game-high seven shots. "That was pretty scary for me," Bednar said. "I was hoping he just got the wind knocked out of him. It was good to see him come back and play."

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What's next

Canucks: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-TN, NHL.TV)