Valeri Nichushkin had a goal in regulation and the only one in an extended shootout, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in Denver on Wednesday night.
Alexandar Georgiev turned away 18 shots through overtime and all five he faced in the shootout to give Colorado its fourth win in five games.
Pavel Dorofeyev had a goal and Adin Hill made 33 saves and three more in the shootout before Nichushkin beat him in the fifth round, halting Vegas’ three-game win streak.
Both goalies were sharp against the top shooters but Nichushkin was able to slip one by Hill to end it.
The Avalanche announced before the game that Jonathan Drouin is week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered in a 7-4 win at Florida on Saturday night. Colorado recalled 22-year-old Chase Bradley, who made his NHL debut on the fourth line.
The Avalanche began overtime on the power play but Vegas killed it off, and the teams skated 4-on-4 for the first 3:21 of the extra period.
Neither team had a power play through the first two periods but Cale Makar was given a two-minute interference minor 3:37 into the third period. Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo took a tripping minor at 11:10 of the third.
Both teams had chances in the first period but couldn’t get one past either goaltender. Nathan MacKinnon had a great scoring opportunity early in the second but his shot tipped off Hill’s glove and grazed the crossbar.
The Golden Knights finally broke the stalemate late in the second. Ivan Barbashev had the puck above the right circle and fed Dorofeyev as he skated down the left side. On his team-leading 12th goal of the season, Dorofeyev stickhandled to the bottom of the circle and lifted a shot over Georgiev’s shoulders to make it 1-0 at 13:09.
Colorado responded quickly when MacKinnon carried the puck into the Vegas end but had the puck knocked away. The Golden Knights tried to clear it up the middle but Nichushkin intercepted it and put it by Hill at 13:42 for his second tally of the season.
–Field Level Media