Avs rally to down Canucks in OT
VANCOUVER — Nathan MacKinnon scored the Colorado Avalanche’s fifth power-play goal of the night with 1:24 left in overtime for a 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
With Daniel Sedin off for hooking, Tyson Barrie passed to MacKinnon, who blew a shot from the faceoff circle past Canucks goaltender Anders Nilsson.
Barrie had tied the game 4-4 on Colorado’s fourth power-play goal of the night at 16:59 of the third period. He also had four assists. The Avs battled back from a three-goal deficit for the win.
Brandon Suter and Nikolay Goldobin had a goal and an assist each for the Canucks in a wild second period. Darren Archibald and Bo Horvat also scored for Vancouver (23-30-3).
Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog both had a goal and assist for the Avalanche (3-23-4). Tyson Jost also had a goal, while MacKinnon had three assists.
The Canucks scored three goals 2:41 apart to build a 4-1 second-period lead. The Avs battled back to make it 4-3 with a pair of goals 1:26 apart.
MacKinnon could have tied the game early in the third when he hit a crossbar.
Nilsson, starting his third straight game, stopped 29 shots for Vancouver. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.
Jost tied the game 1-1 when he deflected Barrie’s shot from the point under Nilsson’s arm.
It looked like the Canucks had taken control when Horvat made it 4-1 off Brock Boeser’s pass from behind the net, but the Avs refused to quit.
Meanwhile, with the trade deadline nearing, the Canucks have taken a player off the market.
Vancouver signed defenceman Erik Gudbranson to a three-year contract extension Tuesday. The team said the deal will carry an average annual value of US $4 million for a total of $12 million.