Avs still stumbling down the stretch
calgary, alberta » In the six previous games goalie Semyon Varlamov missed because of a groin injury, the Avalanche allowed late third-period goals to lose three times. Having Varlamov back Thursday night didn’t change that. He allowed the tying goal with 1:17 left in regulation and the game-winner 2:47 into overtime inCalgary’s 4-3 victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Defenseman Dennis Wideman scored the equalizer for the Flames and forward Sean Monahanwon it as the NHL’s most surprising team improved to 17-8-2.
Alex Tanguay’s skilled 1-on-1 rush and patented shootoutmove gave the Avalanche a late 3-2 lead over Tanguay’s former team, but Wideman tied it with a long wrist shot through traffic.
Tanguay took a defensive-zone clearing pass off his skates in the neutral zone, drove through defensemanKrisRussell, out-waited goalie Kari Ramo and delivered a bad-angle wrist shot into the net after Ramo went down to the ice and left the top of the net uncovered. In their last seven games, the Avs are just 3-4when tied or leading in the third period.
“In the third period,” coach Patrick Roy said, “giveaways will always hurt you. That’s what cost the second goal and the third.”
The Avs put together one of their best periods of the season in the second after going down 1-0 on Wideman’s power-play goal 2:20 into the frame. Colorado committed three of the four penalties in the period but still outshot Calgary 15-7.
Matt Duchene tied it at 13:23 by starting a 2-on-1 rush with Ryan O’Reilly out of the defensive zone, through the neutral and in on Ramo. O’Reilly’s timely dish to Duchene resulted in a relatively easy one-timer by Duchene, who had most of the net to work with.
The go-ahead goal was initially credited to defenseman ZachRedmond but was changed to Nick Holden, who had Redmond’s shot inadvertently bounce in off his skate. Holden, who isminus-16 as a defenseman, was playing his first game at forward this season.
Curtis Glencross tied it 2-2 early in the third period on a one-timer from between the circles. Former Avs forward David Jones set up Glencross after a turnover.
“We keep finding ways to lose,” Tanguay said. “It’s certainly very disappointing, very frustrating. I wish we had an answer. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. ... We had the lead with four minutes left. You have to bear down.”