Frederik Andersen made 44 saves in overtime and three more in the shootout, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in Denver on Thursday night.
Seth Jarvis had a goal and an assist and scored the only goal in the shootout. Eric Robinson, Sebastian Aho and Logan Stankoven also scored for Carolina, spoiling Colorado’s comeback night.
The teams wore the jerseys honoring the former cities of each franchise. The Avalanche wore the blue of the Quebec Nordiques and the Hurricanes wore white Hartford Whalers sweaters.
Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Parker Kelly and Martin Necas also scored and Trent Miner stopped 20 shots in relief of Scott Wedgewood for Colorado.
The Avalanche went undefeated in regulation and had at least one point in all eight games.
Both teams scored quickly, with Robinson putting Carolina ahead 1-0 with his third goal just 3:07 into the first period. Nichushkin responded with a backhand 57 seconds later to tie it, but the Hurricanes then took control.
Jarvis scored on a short-handed breakaway at 7:17, then Carolina made it 3-1 at 12:41 when Wedgewood made a save on Nikolaj Ehlers’ shot, but the rebound went off Aho and went in.
The Hurricanes ended a dominant period when Cale Makar’s turnover in the Colorado zone led to Stankoven’s second goal of the season at 13:40. That ended Wedgewood’s night after allowing four goals on 11 shots.
Kelly closed the gap at 4:46 of the second period when Sam Malinski’s shot came off his outstretched glove. The Hurricanes unsuccessfully disputed that the goal came after there should have been a stoppage in play.
Colorado had two shorthanded breakaway chances later in the period, but Andersen stopped both shots to keep the score at 4-2. Necas scored his fifth goal of the season on a sharp angle shot at 4:45 of the third to make it a one-goal game.
After six empty power plays, Nichushkin equalized on the Avalanche’s seventh chance on the power play at 14:09.
–Field level media
