The Colorado Avalanche erased a pair of one-goal leads to beat the struggling Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Saturday night in Denver.
Winger Andrew Brunette netted the winner early in the third period to hand the Canucks their third straight loss.
Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo, right, makes a save off Colorado's Brett McLean Saturday night in Denver.
(Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Brunette led Colorado (7-5-2) with two goals, while captain Joe Sakic added a pair of assists.
Avalanche goaltender Jose Theodore was stellar between the pipes, making 36 saves, including 14 in the final period.
Naslund opens scoring
Vancouver dominated the first by outshooting the Avalanche 15-6, but only had one goal to show for it.
The Canucks opened the scoring with 53 seconds remaining after taking advantage of a Colorado turnover in the neutral zone.
With Canucks on a 2-on-1 rush, Alexandre Burrow alertly skated around a sprawled John-Michael Liles and sent a pass to Markus Naslund, who beat Theodore for his seventh goal of the year.
It didn't take long for the Avalanche to even the score as Brunette scored his first goal of the game just 1:02 into the second. Brunette deflected a point shot by defenceman Brett Clark that beat goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Stastny gets the equalizer
After a Daniel Sedin's power-play goal gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead, the Avalanche got the equalizer once again at 12:46 of the second. With several players crowding the front of the Vancouver net, centre Paul Stastny swiped the puck behind Luongo.
The Avalanche got the eventual game-winner just 3:22 into the third period after Vancouver failed to get the puck out of its own end.
Brunette found himself alone in front of the Canucks' net and calmly deked goaltender Roberto Luongo for his seventh goal of the season.
It was the Canucks' second three-game losing streak of the season.
Vancouver (7-7-1) lost three straight from Oct. 8-13, a streak that started with a loss to the Avalanche in Denver.
The Canucks are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Wild in Minnesota on Thursday, a game in which Vancouver blew a two-goal lead.
Vancouver was also playing without defenceman Sami Salo, who is expected to miss a week of action because of a knee injury. Salo suffered a mild sprain of his left knee during the Canucks' defeat to the Wild.
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