Semyon Varlamov was spectacular again and Jarome Iginla collected two goals as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 in Denver on Thursday night. Varlamov set an Avalanche two-game record by making 90 saves over the course of the last two contests.
The Senators (16-16-8) have dropped eight of their last nine meetings with the Avalanche (17-16-8).
The Avalanche improved to 8-3-2 in their last 13 games. They are 5-1-0 in their blue third jerseys on the season.
With the win, Colorado moves above the .500-mark for the first time all season with 42 points after 41 games – the midpoint of the season.
All six Avalanche defenseman picked up a point in the victory, including Brad Stuart scoring his first goal in an Avalanche sweater.
The Avs went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill – extending the Senators drought to 28 power plays without a goal.
With two assists in the game, Alex Tanguay hit 800 points for his career – 438 of which have come in an Avalanche sweater.
The Tanguay-Ryan O’Reilly-Iginla line was the best unit on the ice. The line combined for two six points in the game.
“I’ve been extremely fortunate and blessed to get to play with [Tanguay]. It’s been fun, I’m thrilled,” Iginla said. “Him and [O’Reilly] are both such smart players, have good sticks, steal a lot of pucks. If you just go to the net, it’s a matter of time when you’re playing with both of those guys, you’re going to get a scoring chance.”
Iginla and Tanguay are now tied for the team lead in both points (27) and goals (12).
The Avalanche scored five goals despite generating only 21 shots on goal. Former Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson was yanked in favor of Robin Lehner in the second period after allowing three goals on nine shots.
Jarome Iginla opened the scoring with a quick wrist shot off of an Alex Tanguay pass from the right faceoff dot with Ryan O’Reilly screening Craig Anderson. 10 of Iginla’s 12 goals on the season have come in the friendly confines of Pepsi Center.
Brad Stuart scored the first goal in his last 65 games with a blast from the point at 17:20 of the first period to open up a two-goal lead for the home team.
Mark. Stone cut the Avs’ lead in half at 3:03 of the second period after Erik Karlsson pinched in and found him alone in the slot.
Eric Johnson provided the answer for the Avalanche and restored the two-goal lead just 53 seconds later with a wrister from the point. Iginla was stationed in front of Anderson providing the screen. The goal was Johnson’s 11th of the season – setting a new career-high for the 26-year-old.
Bobby Ryan sandwiched a goal between third period tallies by Iginla and Daniel Briere to close the game out.
“I’m not going to complain here. We’re winning hockey games and I think that’s what we want and Varly was out best player again,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Varly brings a lot of confidence to the team. He’s sharp. He’s moving well. He’s seeing the puck. I’m very happy with him, but at the same time we are going to have to better in front of him defensively.”
The Avalanche will look to keep things rolling when the Dallas Stars come to Denver on Saturday.
