Andre Burakovsky scored the go-ahead goal with 2:53 remaining in the third period to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday afternoon in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series in Edmonton.
Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost also scored and Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Avalanche, who have secured a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Game 3 in the series is Saturday.
Clayton Keller and Michael Grabner replied for the Coyotes. Darcy Kuemper turned aside 25 shots in the defeat.
With the game tied at 2 late in the third period, Nazem Kadri threw the puck at the net from the sideboards. Burakovsky was alone in front and one-timed it past Kuemper.
MacKinnon opened the scoring just 3:40 into the game. Captain Gabriel Landeskog stripped the puck from Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers in the neutral zone and dished it to MacKinnon, who streaked in and wired a shot past Kuemper.
The Coyotes got that back at 16:49 of the first period. Keller made the initial shot and got another jab on Grubauer before the puck squirted out behind the goaltender. With Coyotes sniper Derek Stepan closing in, Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard inadvertently pushed the puck into his own net.
The Avalanche secured the lead again with Jost deflecting defenseman Cale Makar's shot from the point at 3:37 of the second period.
Grabner forged a tie less than two minutes later after skating in from the corner and firing a hard shot past Grubauer. Vinnie Hinostroza didn't get an assist on the play but he caused enough traffic in front of Grubauer to help ensure the puck went in the net.
Midway through the third, Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun rang one off the post in his bid to take the lead. The action was quick and end-to-end through the third period and it wasn't until the 17:07 mark that the Avalanche broke the tie.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Colorado | |
Michael Grabner 1 | Points | Andre Burakovsky 1 |
Michael Grabner 1 | Goals | Andre Burakovsky 1 |
Jordan Oesterle 1 | Assists | Matt Calvert 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Darcy Kuemper .893 | Save Percentage | Philipp Grubauer .938 |
Darcy Kuemper 25 | Saves | Philipp Grubauer 30 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Arizona | 32 | 2 | 0-4 | 4-4 | 8 | 27 |
Colorado | 28 | 3 | 0-4 | 4-4 | 8 | 29 |