DENVER – Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist and Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Sven Baertschi and Matt Bartkowski also had goals for the Canucks, who stopped a four-game winless streak. Vancouver’s recent 0-3-1 stretch had dropped them to fifth in the Pacific Division.
Francois Beauchemin scored the lone goal for Colorado, and Semyon Varlamov had 25 saves while the Avalanche continued to scuffle on home ice, where they are 12-13-4.
The Avalanche couldn’t capitalize on three straight power plays and 57 seconds of 5-on-3 in the first, but took a 1-0 lead on Beauchemin’s seventh goal of the season at 2:26 of the second.
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The Canucks scored twice before the end of the second to take a 2-1 lead at intermission. Bartkowski’s wrister at 9:43 tied it and gave him his first goal since Nov. 15.
Baertschi knocked in defenceman Ben Hutton’s rebound at 16:22 to give Vancouver the lead. Colorado coach Patrick Roy challenged the goal because he felt forward Jake Virtanen pushed Avalanche defenceman Tyson Barrie into Varlamov, but the goal stood up upon review.
The Canucks could have led by more, but Varlamov stopped Daniel Sedin and Virtanen on breakaways in the second.
Horvat made it 3-1 at 4:30 of the third period when he beat Varlamov with a wrister from the slot. It was his 10th of the season.
Varlamov went off for an extra skater with 3:25 left
NOTES: Vancouver C Brandon Sutter left midway through the second when he took a puck to the face. He did not return. … Avalanche D Nick Holden wore a full face shield to protect his broken nose. It was injured on a high stick by Winnipeg’s Drew Stafford on Saturday night. … Avalanche RW Jack Skille missed his second straight game with a concussion.