CALGARY — Mikkel Boedker has been everything Colorado was hoping for.
Acquired from the Arizona Coyotes at the trade deadline, Boedker scored the only goal of the shootout on Friday night to give the Avalanche a 4-3 comeback win over the Calgary Flames.
As the second shooter for Colorado, Boedker made a nifty deke to beat Joni Ortio. That left it up to Semyon Varlamov and he ended it with a stop on Sean Monahan.
“Just coming in with speed and hoping the goaltender bites on your fake shot and brought it to the backhand,” said the Danish left-winger. “It was one of those things that felt really good and it’s going to go a long way confidence wise.”
To go along with Friday’s shootout winner, Boedker has six points (three goals, three assists) in eight games since joining Colorado at the trade deadline.
“We knew he was going to help our power play, I think we knew he was going to help our team speed. We’re a fast team as it was, but he’s really fit in well,” said Erik Johnson, whose first-period goal was set up by Boedker.
On Wednesday, Boedker had the tying and game-winning goals against Vancouver.
“Scored a big one against Vancouver, scored another big one here tonight,” said Avalanche coach Patrick Roy.
“It’s a good addition for our team.”
The visitors cut their deficit to 3-2 on Tyson Barrie‘s goal at 8:33 of the second. From a scramble, Carl Soderberg‘s goal at 9:09 of the third tied it.
Winners of four of their last five, Colorado (37-31-4) moved three points up on Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild hold a game in hand.
Matt Stajan, Mark Giordano and Freddie Hamilton scored for Calgary (30-35-6). The Flames finished 3-1-2 on their season-long six-game homestand and open a three-game road trip in Montreal on Sunday.
“A real gutsy effort,” said Calgary coach Bob Hartley. “I really liked our energy. I felt this homestand, we played some very good games.”
The first penalty of the game didn’t come until 4:36 of the second period when Deryk Engelland was sent off for delay of game. But with the game tied 1-1 at the time, it would turn out to be an eventful penalty kill.
Giordano gave the Flames the lead at 5:17, firing his 19th past Varlamov after being set up neatly by Josh Jooris.
The second assist went to Lance Bouma, who remained on the ice off the next faceoff and 30 seconds later, set up Freddie Hamilton’s first of the season.
“They had a great shift right before that, a great goal, and we just tried to keep the momentum going,” said Hamilton, whose only other NHL goal came as a member of the Avalanche. “That was a huge part of the game. It felt awesome, but it would have felt a lot sweeter if we got the win.”
After scoring only two short-handed goals in the season’s first 67 games, the Flames 30th-ranked penalty kill has erupted for five in the last three games.
“Our PK has been a lot better lately. We’ve been aggressive and we’re getting chances offensively because of that,” Bouma said.
Varlamov had 30 saves to improve to 26-18-3. Ortio, who had 25 stops, fell to 4-7-4.
Colorado lost defenceman Eric Gelinas (shoulder) in the second period. Roy said, “He hurt his elbow when he got hit. He’s going to be out for a while.”
Notes: Flames record for fastest short-handed goals is four seconds (Doug Gilmour, Paul Ranheim) on Oct. 17 1989… T.J. Brodie (41 points) and Giordano (48 points) both tied their career high…. Brodie (upper body) returned after missing three games… Matt Duchene (knee) did not play for Colorado. Serving the final game of a three-game suspension was Gabriel Landeskog.
