Duchene scores twice to lift Avalanche past Lightning

Matt Duchene broke out of an offensive slump and Semyon Varlamov was strong again as the Colorado Avalanche are putting together a solid road trip.

Duchene had two goals and an assist, Varlamov made 27 saves for his 21st career shutout and the Avalanche beat the host Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0, Thursday night.

“He’s a big horse for us,” Avalanche right winger Jarome Iginla said of Duchene. “He’s been good the first few games, but tonight he took it to a new level.”

Andreas Martinsen and Carl Soderberg scored for the Avalanche, who are 2-1 on a four-game trip. Colorado beat the Penguins in overtime and lost to Washington earlier on the trip.

“We did a lot of good things,” Duchene said.

Duchene scored in the final minute of both the first and second periods. Varlamov made a strong save on Nikita Kucherov’s low right circle shot in the second.

Tampa Bay went 3-1 on a season-opening four-game homestand.

Other games

Bruins 2, Devils 1: Patrice Bergeron scored the tiebreaking goal with 75 seconds left in his season debut to give host Boston a victory against New Jersey. After missing the first three games with an unspecified injury, Bergeron returned to practice Wednesday and took regular shifts in the home opener He was on the ice when linemate Brad Marchand tied it 1-all with just under 10 minutes left in regulation, and he was there again to slide in the winner.

Canadiens 5, Coyotes 2: Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, and host Montreal stayed unbeated in regulation by slipping past Arizona.

Capitals 4, Panthers 2: Jaromir Jagr scored his first goal of the season for Florida, but it wasn’t enough as two two third-period goals from visiting Washington kept the Capitals undefeated this season in regulation.

Wild 3, Maple Leafs 2: Zac Dalpe scored the tying goal early in the third period, and Eric Staal followed with the go-ahead tally at 11:53 as host Minnesota rallied past Toronto.

Ducks 3, Flyers 2: Ryan Garbutt’s goal broke a tie in the third period and sent visiting Anaheim to its first win this season, spoiling Philadelphia’s home opener. The Ducks had opened 0-3-1 and failed to score more than two goals in any of those games.

Kings 4, Stars 3: Alec Martinez scored his first goal this season at 1:20 of overtime to lift visiting Los angeles to a win against Dallas.

Oilers 3, Blues 1: Milan Lucic scored 36 seconds into the third period to spark host Edmonton’s victory against St. Louis.

Hurricanes 4, Flames 2: Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner scored power-play goals to boost visiting Carolina to a win against Calgary.