In Denver Wednesday, the Colorado Avalanche used a four-goal second period to brush aside the Calgary Flames in a 5-2 win.
Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to help the Avs improve to 34-24-5 and move within one pint of the second wild card spot in the west.
“We have a deep hunger to get to where we want to go,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “That’s what it comes down to.”
Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie, Duncan Siemens, Nikita Zadorov , and Matt Nieto scored for the Avalanche.
“I felt once we score, we get confident,” MacKinnon said. “We have a very positive group, a very hungry young team. I’m not surprised. We do a good job of sticking to the game plan.”
The Avs’ Duncan Siemens added an empty-netter to seal it.
“I liked the way our guys stuck with it,” Bednar said. “We went after them pretty good. We got our forecheck rolling a little bit … guys played good. It was a good team effort. The penalty kill was great again (5-for-5). We had a lot of guys chipping in.”
Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund had the Flames goals.
“We were saying we controlled our own destiny. Now we are getting to that point where if we don’t start stringing wins together we are going to need some help,” Calgary captain Mark Giordano said.
The Avs have pushed themselves into a position to compete in the playoffs this season and they need to continue to play a steady game.
“It’s so hard to make the playoffs in this league, and a bunch of us have been here a long time and only had one crack at it. We don’t want it to slip away. We’ve worked so hard all year to put ourselves in position. At the same time, you look at where we are from last year, so it’s not all that pressure of being a top seed,” Barrie said after the win.
[WATCH: All Flames vs. Avalanche highlights]
David Rittich made 29 saves in taking the loss.
“I think discipline is a big part of it. I think that the last two games we have been in the box a lot and they’ve been special-teams games. Too many times we are short, but we have had a lot of power plays too, and we’re not converting. We are getting our looks and the puck isn’t going in,” Giordano said.
The loss dropped the Flames to 32-24-9 and they trail the Los Angeles Kings by two points in the race for third in the Pacific Division.
“It comes down to discipline, and that starts with me too,” Calgary head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I didn’t react to some of the calls I couldn’t get my head around, and I didn’t react the right way. I took the bait too.”
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