For better or for worse, depending on your point of view, Reto Berra was solid in goal and the Avalanche played a strong all-around game Thursday in ending their road trip with a 4-1 win in Vancouver.
Making his first start since Nov. 25, Berra made 33 saves -- 17 in the third period -- to post his first win since Nov. 6 against Toronto. He stopped 26 of 27 shots Wednesday in relief of Semyon Varlamov in that 4-3 loss in Edmonton.
Now 3-3-1 for the season, Berra lowered his goals-against average to 2.97 and improved his save percentage to.906.
"Remember we were talking a lot about him after almost every practice," coach Patrick Roy told the Denver Post. "I told you many times that I liked the way he has been working, and I think he's getting rewarded for it. When you work hard, good things happen to you. I'm very happy to see this performance tonight.
"I think it's going to bring confidence to himself, but his teammates are going to look at him and say, 'You know what, Reto has been working hard,' and I'm sure they're proud of him."
But Varlamov is expected to start Saturday when the Avalanche meet Buffalo at the Pepsi Center, their first home game since March 14 against Calgary.
We'll find out Saturday morning the status of defenseman Erik Johnson, who last played Jan. 21 against Boston and underwent knee surgery five days later. As much as I'm sure he wants to play, is it worth getting him back in the lineup with eight games remaining or would it be wiser to shut him down until the fall?
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The Avalanche outshot the Canucks 18-5 in a scoreless first period and 38-34 for the game. Alex Tanguay and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist, Jarome Iginla scored his 26th of the season, John Mitchell added an empty netter on a power play and Ryan O'Reilly had two assists.
The Canucks wore 1915 Vancouver Millionaire replica uniforms against the Avalanche to honor the 100th anniversary of the Millionaires’ Stanley Cup championship.
Headline in the Vancouver Sun: "Canucks dress like Millionaires, play like paupers"
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Iginla, who has eight goals and three assists in the past 12 games, tied Jean Beliveau for 40th place on the all-time list with his 1,219th career point ... O'Reilly has four goals and seven assists in a six-game scoring streak ... Landeskog has 12 goals and 11 assists in the past 20 games ... Tanguay has six goals and five assists in the past 10 games ... Daniel Briere missed his second game because of a foot injury.