In Denver, the Arizona Coyotes played the Avalanche even through 65 minutes of play on Friday night.
Only Nazem Kadri’s skills goal was the difference in a 4-3 win for the Avs.
Pavel Francouz made 23 saves for the Avs win.
“I’m really happy we won, but I’m not super happy about my game because it’s really tough when you don’t get a lot of shots and you’re kind of waiting for every save,” Francouz said. “I really wish that I could have that third goal back. Thank God the guys bailed me out.”
Colorado improved to 23-8-3.
Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost staked the Avs to a 2-0 lead in the first period.
“Tonight [the penalty kill] was good,” Jost said. “It gives us a little boost of confidence and shows we have been doing the right things. It was nice to get back to our old selves.”
Arizona dropped to 8-23-4.
The Avalanche have a 13-game home winning streak going.
“Whenever you win 13 in a row at home a lot of things are working,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “Different contributions, different guys, good depth going through the lineup. Our top guys have been playing real well and capitalizing on their chances. Different things on different nights.”
Clayton Keller scored a shorthanded goal for the Coyotes first goal in the first period and Johan Larsson scored in the middle frame to get the two clubs even at 2-2 heading to the third.
“Keller’s shorthanded goal, I think that’s something we really rallied around,” Coyotes assistant coach Phil Housley said. “It got us some momentum. They’re a terrific offensive team, one of the most high-powered offenses in the League. You know they’re going to get their opportunities. We just tried to limit them as much as we could.”
Arizona took a 3-2 with 58 seconds gone in the third period on a strike from Shayne Gostisbehere
Andre Burakovsky replied for the Avs just 10 seconds later for a 3-3 tie.
Ivan Prsvetov made 44 saves in the Coyotes loss.
“Back in the day, when I was younger, the best goalie in the League was Semyon Varlamov,” Prosvetov said. “I was watching him when I was a very young kid and he played for the Avalanche. So I was always playing for the Avalanche in Xbox and stuff. Definitely how life goes. I’ve played five games in the NHL and three of them are against Colorado. It’s funny, but it’s a good building to play. I feel like every year I’m making progress. As a young kid, that’s what you want.”
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