Avalanche overcome deficit, beat Coyotes in OT

Daniel Briere scored 3:16 into overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche completed a comeback from three goals down to beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Tuesday night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Daniel Briere scored 3:16 into overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche completed a comeback from three goals down to beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Briere got help from the Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal, who backhanded Briere’s pass past his own goalie, Mike Smith.

Colorado (8-9-5) won for the fourth time in five games after a goalie change in the first period. Arizona (9-11-3) absorbed another late-game home loss.

The Avalanche tied it 3-3 when Matt Duchene’s pass from behind the net went off the stick of Coyotes forward Lauri Korpikoski and squeezed past Smith at 4:05 of the third period.


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Arizona had everything going its way early. A three-goal barrage in the first 11 minutes put the Coyotes ahead big. But the Avalanche rallied behind left wing Gabriel Landeskog’s two goals and substitute goalie Calvin Pickard, who finished with 25 saves and no goals allowed.

The third Coyotes goal, a twisting wrist shot by Tobias Rieder off a rush at 10:53 of the first period, marked a quick end to goalie Reto Berra’s night.

Berra was also pulled in the first period of Colorado’s previous game, a 4-3 home win over Carolina on Saturday.

Arizona took the lead when Michael Stone’s shot glanced off teammate Antoine Vermette’s stick and into the net at 3:36 of the first. The teams were skating 4-on-4 at the time.

Stone made it 2-0 at 10:20 when his shot appeared to go off the body of defenceman Nick Holden and past Berra’s extended glove. Stone, a defenceman, tied his career high for points in a game with his first multipoint game of the season.

Just 33 seconds later, Rieder scored.

Landeskog tipped in his own rebound with a backhander at 5:49 of the second period to make it 3-1, but the Coyotes carried the two-goal lead into the third.

The Avalanche got within 3-2 when Landeskog wedged in between defenders in front of the net and put in a deflected shot from Nathan MacKinnon at 1:36.

Smith made 30 saves, including a short-handed shot from Marc-Andre Cliche at 17:06 of the second period.

Linemates Hanzal and Rob Klinkhammer returned to the lineup for the Coyotes. Hanzal played for the first time since Nov. 16, having missed four games due to a lower body injury.

Klinkhammer was back after sitting out two straight and three of four.

Notes: Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay missed his second straight game due to a facial fracture. … Semyon Varlamov, the Avs’ No. 1 goalie, was unavailable due to a groin injury. … Jarome Iginla earned an assist on each of Landeskog’s goals, giving him 1,181 career points, 48th on the NHL career list and third among active players. … Colorado D Erik Johnson left the game at 1:11 of overtime, levelled by a hard check from Hanzal. … Coyotes C Kyle Chipchura was a healthy scratch after playing four consecutive games. … The Coyotes are 12-4-3 against the Avalanche under coach Dave Tippett. … Arizona C Shane Doan moved into sole possession of 48th place in career NHL games played at 1,338. … The Coyotes are 0-for-20 on power plays in their last five home games, including 0-for-1 on Tuesday.

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