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Goalie Pavel Francouz made 26 saves while
earning his first career shutout as Colorado posted its second
consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak.
Francouz's effort came on the same day he agreed to a two-year
contract extension with the Avalanche, reportedly for $2 million
per season.
Goalie John Gibson stopped 28 shots for Anaheim, which lost its
third consecutive game and fell for the fourth time in the past
five contests. The Ducks are 0-2-0 to open a six-game homestand.
After more than 36 minutes in a scoreless battle, the Avalanche
turned a rare defensive mistake from either team into a goal.
Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm fired a pass from the side of
his own goal to the blue line, but it was intercepted by the
Avalanche's Martin Kaut.
Colorado struck quickly as Kaut moved in on the Ducks' goal then
sent a pass to Compher, who one-timed a shot past Gibson. It was
Compher's ninth goal of the season, while the assist gave Kaut
his first career NHL point in his second career game.
The Avalanche turned up the offensive intensity in the second
period as they outshot the Ducks 14-5 after shots were even
10-10 in a scoreless opening period.
It was a key victory for the Avalanche, who overtook the Dallas
Stars for second place in the Central Division and are in one of
the busiest stretches of the schedule. The Friday game was their
10th in an 11-game, 19-day run that concludes with another road
game Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.
The defensive miscue in the second period came in Lindholm's
500th career NHL game. Jakob Silfverberg was playing in his
500th game with the Ducks, and Adam Henrique was playing in his
200th game with Anaheim.
The Ducks took the ice a few hours after forward Ondrej Kase was
traded to the Boston Bruins for forward David Backes, defense
prospect Axel Andersson and a 2020 first-round draft pick.
--Field Level Media
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