Avalanche 5, Blue Jackets 3
DENVER -- Centers Ryan O'Reilly and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist each, goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Left wingers Gabriel Landeskog and Jamie McGinn and defenseman Jan Hejda also had goals to help the Avalanche stop a four-game losing streak.
Center Ryan Johansen and left winger Nick Foligno had a goal and assist each for the Blue Jackets. Center Boone Jenner also scored and goalie Curtis McElhinney had 18 saves for Columbus, which dropped two straight.
The Avalanche earned points but not wins over the past 10 days. Two shootout losses and an overtime setback to Winnipeg on Sunday gave them their longest losing streak of the season.
Columbus has been playing well of late. The Blue Jackets won three straight, including two road games, before falling to Pittsburgh at home.
They were trying to build on that Tuesday by carrying the play for the first two periods. They outshot Colorado 38-23 but trailed for almost half the game.
Columbus took a 2-1 lead near the midway point of the second when Jenner batted in left winger Blake Comeau's shot from the point for his fifth goal of the season.
The Avalanche, who managed just five shots on goal in the second, made a couple of them count. They tied it when McGinn backhanded center Matt Duchene's shot through McElhinney's legs at 12:04 of the middle period.
Duchene had two assists.
O'Reilly gave Colorado a 3-2 lead -- its first since Dec. 23 -- when he scored on the power play 2:38 after McGinn. It was O'Reilly's 13th of the season.
The Avalanche went up 4-2 on Landeskog's power-play goal at 8:10 of the third, but Foligno knocked in a rebound 37 seconds later to get Columbus within one again.
The Blue Jackets were pressing for the equalizer but Foligno went off for tripping with 1:30 left in the game. MacKinnon scored 26 seconds later to ice it.
NOTES: Avalanche RW P.A. Parenteau is expected to miss up to six weeks after suffering a second-degree sprain of the MCL in his right knee Sunday. Parenteau's skate tangled with Winnipeg D Jacob Trouba late in the second period when the injury occurred. Center Brad Malone took his place in the lineup Tuesday. ... Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky (groin) started skating but is still not ready to return to action. ... Blue Jackets assistant coach Dan Hinote was honored by the Avalanche before the game. Hinote played his first six seasons in Colorado and helped the Avalanche win the 2001 Stanley Cup. ... The Blue Jackets recalled C Ryan Craig from Springfield of the AHL. Craig has been reassigned a day earlier.
