Andrei Kuzmenko scores twice, Canucks beat Avalanche 4-2
Vancouver Canucks goalie Collin Delia allows a goal to Colorado Avalanche's Samuel Girard during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) Credit: AP/DARRYL DYCK
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Thursday night.
Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller also scored for the Canucks. They snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 17-18-3.
Collin Delia stopped 29 shots for Vancouver. Elias Pettersson and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each had two assists.
Mikko Rantanen and Samuel Girard scored for Colorado and Alexandar Georgiev made 39 saves. The defending champion Avalanche are 0-4-1 in their last five to fall to 19-15-3.
A highlight reel play set up Vancouver’s second goal.
Putting the puck between his owns legs, Kuzmenko sprung Pettersson for a partial breakaway. The Swedish center drove into the Colorado zone, took the puck around the net, and got off a shot as he fell to the ice. Kuzmenko then forced the puck in past Georgiev’s skate, tying it at 2 with his 17th goal of the season.
Boeser scored the go-ahead goal 34 seconds later, sending a wrist shot past the netminder from in tight.
Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon (29) falls next to Vancouver Canucks' Curtis Lazar (20) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) Credit: AP/DARRYL DYCK
UP NEXT
Avalanche: At Edmonton on Saturday.
Canucks: At Winnipeg on Sunday in first game of a five-game trip.
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Vancouver Canucks' Ethan Bear, left, and Colorado Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon vie for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) Credit: AP/DARRYL DYCK
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