Jannik Hansen scored the decisive goal with 2:08 remaining, Mikael Samuelsson had his first NHL hat trick, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Hansen snapped the tie with an unusual goal that was confirmed by video replay. Aaron Rome took a shot from the point that bounced off the end boards. Hansen rushed into the crease between the net and goalie Craig Anderson, and the puck caromed in off his skate.
Daniel Sedin added an empty-net goal with 8.8 seconds left to seal the Canucks' fourth straight win over Colorado. The Avalanche were denied in their bid to move into a tie with Northwest Division-leading Vancouver.
Down 3-0 and 4-1, Vancouver pulled within 4-3 when Samuelsson scored his third goal of the night at 18:18 of the second period, picking up a loose puck in the crease and tapping it past Anderson.
The Canucks tied it with 11:56 remaining when Alex Burrows, positioned in front of Anderson, deflected in Christian Erhoff's shot.
Colorado scored three goals in the first period, netting the first two in a 28-second span.
Peter Mueller, skating behind the net, got the puck out to Matt Duchene. He punched it in with shot from just outside the right post at 6:17 of the first period.
T.J. Galiardi set up the second goal, passing the puck ahead to Chris Stewart, who gathered speed skating down the right side and ripped a slap shot from a tough angle near the lower edge of the circle. The puck beat goalie Roberto Luongo's glove and the right post.
The Avalanche made it 3-0 on Duchene's second goal of the night and 23rd of the season at 13:26 of the first.
Paul Statsny, matching a career-high with his 50th assist, fed Duchene in the slot. Duchene wristed the puck into the net on the power play. He benefited when the puck glanced off the skate Vancouver defenceman Alexander Edler, causing a change of direction that Luongo could not adjust to in time.
Vancouver scored it first goal when Samuelsson netted his first at 6:40 of the second period, but the Avalanche came right back on an unassisted score by Mueller 36 seconds later.
Samuelsson made it 4-2 at 11:45 of the second, knocking a rebound past Anderson.
NOTES: Duchene leads NHL rookies with 10 power-play goals. ... Mueller has at least one point in each of his four games for Colorado since being acquired a week ago in a trade with Phoenix. ... Samuelsson boosted his point total to a career-high 46. His 27 goals this season rank second on the Canucks to Burrows' 30.
