There hasn't been much reason for the Avalanche to celebrate this dismal season, but that changed late Saturday when Jeremy Smith earned his first NHL win, a 34-save effort in a 5-3 victory against Buffalo at the Pepsi Center.

Smith, 27, got the start when Calvin Pickard was unable to play because of a stiff neck.

Signed as a free agent last July to add some depth with AHL San Antonio, Smith would still be with the Rampage if Semyon Varlamov hadn't had season-ending hip surgery Jan. 26.

Smith, who is from Dearborn, Mich., was recalled by the Avalanche for the second time Feb. 8 to allow Spencer Martin more playing time with the Rampage. Smith lost his first two NHL starts despite playing pretty well; he stopped 37 shots in a 3-2 loss in New Jersey and 25 shots in a 4-2 loss in Nashville, which scored an empty-net goal.

"It feels great, it's been a long time coming, but this first win feels really good," said Smith, who sat at his locker with the game puck at his side. "I got it right here. That's not going anywhere, anywhere but my shelf."

A second-round pick (No. 54) of the Predators in 2007, Smith is in his eighth season as a pro, having played with Cincinnati of the ECHL and Milwaukee, Springfield, Providence and Iowa of the AHL before moving on to San Antonio.

"I always wanted to make it to the NHL, not just make it but be successful," he said. "This is the first step in being successful, getting that first win."

Smith made a number of big stops, none better than the one he had against Justin Bailey at 10:40 of the first period to preserve a 1-0 lead. He extended his left leg at the last second and used his skate to deny Bailey's stab at the rebound of Josh Gorges' point shot.

"He's worked hard and paid his dues in the minors," said coach Jared Bednar, who knows all about that. "He's had multiple call-ups in the past by our team and other teams. You look at the starts that he's had for us, he's played pretty well. I thought he was really good again. He earned that one for sure."

Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and an assist. He cemented the win with an empty-net goal with 39.4 seconds left in regulation.

"When I saw him get the puck, he's a fast skater so it was like, 'I hope he skates,' and he did. Just a sigh of relief," Smith said.

Landeskog was more than happy to seal the deal for Smith and for the Avalanche, who had lost three games in a row and eight of the previous nine.

"Maybe right now it's hard to put into perspective, but for him and for myself to be a part of that, for him to get that here on home ice is very special," Landeskog said. "I'm sure he's been waiting a long time to get that puck."

It helped that the Avalanche grabbed a 3-0 lead in the opening 14:24 on goals from Landeskog, Mikhail Grigorenko (his career-high seventh) and Tyson Barrie. Blake Comeau knocked in the rebound of Nathan MacKinnon's shot at 16:07 of the second period for a 4-2 advantage.

Carl Soderberg was a healthy scratch, ending his consecutive games played streak at 228.

*****

Playing for the first time after missing 36 games to recover from a broken fibula, Erik Johnson logged 17:35 of ice time, had an assist on Grigorenko's goal, three hits and two blocked shots.

"It's awesome to come back in the lineup and have your first game be a win," said Johnson, who was paired with Patrick Wiercioch. "I felt I’d be in the 16-18 minute zone. I’m just happy that I could come back and feel good and get back out there with the guys because sitting out is the worst thing. It’s no fun and everyone wants to be playing with their teammates.

"It’s kind of about what I expected. I figured I’d be rusty. It’s almost like coming off a summer break and into the season. I missed three months and that’s a long time. It’ll get better for sure, but definitely some rust to work off.”

Bednar had said he planned to ease Johnson into the lineup. Johnson was averaging 22 minutes when he was injured.

"He's an experienced guy, moves the puck well," Bednar said. "He jumped up ice a couple times, he defended pretty hard. I didn't see any glaring mistakes or puck decisions, so that's a good first game as far as I'm concerned. He's only going to get better from there."

Rene Bourque played 7:49 after missing 11 games with head and neck injuries. He played on the fourth line and had three shots.



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