DENVER — Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves, and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin scored goals to help the Vancouver Canucks hand the Colorado Avalanche their sixth consecutive loss, 4-1 on Friday night.
Pavol Demitra and Alexander Edler also scored for Vancouver. The Canucks beat Colorado for the second straight time after losing eight straight in the series.
T.J. Galiardi opened the scoring for Colorado with his first NHL goal for Colorado, beating LaBarbera with a wrist shot with 6:35 left in the first period.
Minutes after Demitra failed to score in a penalty shot, Henrik Sedin tied it with 6:46 Vancouver was awarded the penalty shot after Ian Laperriere kicked away a teammate’s broken stick and it inadvertently struck the puck as the Canucks were trying to score, drawing 10-minute misconduct- and game-misconduct infractions.
Demitra, gathering speed as he approached the net, fired a backhander, but Raycroft managed to get his arm in the way and the puck deflected off his glove.
The stop was among 15 saves in the second period for Raycroft, including one while sprawled on his belly to help kill one of the Canucks’ four power plays in the period.
Vancouver kept up the pressure, though, breaking through for the go-ahead goal 37 seconds into the third period. Raycroft was unable to control a rebound and Daniel Sedin, positioned in the crease, poked it into the net for his 28th goal.
Demitra scored his 18th goal of the season with 15:33 left, and Edler added his 10th with 2:09 remaining.<
Notes: Colorado’s Wojtek Wolski was a late scratch because of illness. … Vancouver’s Taylor Pyatt remains an assist shy of 100 for his career. … The Canucks completed the 10th of 11 back-to-back sets this season, improving to 11-8-1 in games played on successive nights. … Colorado announced the signing of former University of Minnesota forward Ryan Stoa to an entry-level contract. He was a second-round draft pick in 2005. … Colorado defenseman Wes O’Neil made his NHL debut after being recalled from the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. He became the eighth Colorado player to make his league debut this season, matching the team record set in 1998-99.
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