EDMONTON — Andre Burakovsky scored late in the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Friday to take a 2-0 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff series.
The Coyotes were far more aggressive after being tentative against Colorado’s offensive firepower to in the opener.
The Avalanche still found ways to score early in the opening two periods on goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost.
Arizona responded each time, tying it on a goal by Clayton Keller in the first and Michael Grabner in the second.
Burakovsky scored with 2:53 left in regulation when a shot by Kazem Kadri hit Arizona defenceman Jakob Chychrun’s shin pad and left goalie Darcy Kuemper out of position.
Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday in the Edmonton bubble.
Kuemper stopped 25 shots.
Colorado won the opener with three late goals in 1:23 after being stymied by Kuemper for more than 2 1/2 periods.
The Coyotes spent most of the game on their heels, managing just 14 shots.
Arizona buzzed early in Game 2 with some big hits and some good scoring chances.
One mistake gave Colorado the lead.
Taking advantage of a neutral zone turnover, MacKinnon had a clear run up the left side of the ice and beat Kuemper with a wrister to the glove side.
The Coyotes stuck to their attacking game plan after the goal and tied it when a shot by Keller caromed off Colorado defenceman Samuel Girard’s stick past Grubauer.
The Avalanche scored another early goal in the second period, when Jost tipped a shot by Cale Makar that was going well wide past Kuemper.
The Coyotes responded again, tying it less than two minutes later when Colorado failed to pick up Grabner, who skated freely into the crease and beat Grubauer to the glove side.
Arizona had some good chances in the third period, including a shot that clanged off the post, but the Avs scored the last goal to take a commanding lead in the series
Notes: The Avs are 13-1 in playoff series when taking a 2-0 lead. … C Nick Schmaltz, Arizona’s leading scorer during the regular season, missed his sixth straight game with a head injury. … Colorado RW Joonas Donskoi participated in warmups, but was deemed unfit to play. … Antti Raanta returned as Kuemper’s backup for the first time since suffering an injury before Game 2 against Nashville the previous series.
UP NEXT
Game 3 is Saturday.
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