Avalanche coach Patrick Roy called Wednesday's 4-3 overtime victory against the Ottawa Senators a "character win."
It certainly was an important one. Had the Avalanche lost its second home game in a row after blowing an early 2-0 lead, it could have set a negative tone heading into an important three-game stretch with the New York Islanders and Minnesota (back-to-back Friday and Saturday), and Chicago next week.
Instead, Paul Stastny tied the game with 2:20 left in the third period by knocking in the rebound of a shot by Gabriel Landeskog, who powered his way to the front of the net, and Stastny fed Tyson Barrie for the winner 33 seconds into the extra period.
"I liked the play by Landy when he drove that net and then Paul picked up the loose puck," Roy said. "That's what we needed. Landy showed why he's the captain of the team with Paul an assistant captain. They are leaders of this team. They showed great leadership by playing so well at the end of the game.
"The last five minutes, I really liked what I saw. We played with urgency and I was very proud of our team character-wise."
Getting at least one point was crucial after losing to Calgary on Monday. The extra point was a bonus. The win gives the Avalanche a 4-1-1 record on the seven-game homestand that ends Friday against the Islanders.
With a 27-12-4 record and 58 points in 43 games, the Avalanche has a seven-point lead over Minnesota, which has played two more games, and an 11-point lead over Dallas, which has played one fewer game, in the race for third place in the Central Division and a guaranteed place in the playoffs.
"This is an important stretch in our season," Roy said. "Especially with the number of injuries that we have, it's good for the confidence of our team. It was important to play a good game and it was nice to be rewarded by the effort we put in at the end."
The Avalanche is without three top six forwards: PA Parenteau (knee), Ryan O'Reilly (shoulder) and Alex Tanguay (knee, hip), and defenseman Nate Guenin missed his second game in a row with an ankle injury.
Barrie probably wouldn't have been in the lineup the past two games if Guenin was healthy. He played poorly Monday against the Flames and took a bad penalty early in the second period Wednesday when the Senators came within a goal post and a crossbar from converting the ensuing power play.
But Barrie, whose name keeps surfacing in trade rumors -- the New York Rangers had two scouts at Wednesday's game -- came through in the end against the Senators. He passed to Landeskog on the tying goal and beat former Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson with the winner.
"It's awesome. It's pretty exciting to see the guys come off the bench," Barrie said. "We had a good shift and got it into their end. "I think one of their guys was without a stick and it was pretty crowded in front. I called to Paul behind the net and I just tried to get open. With the type of passer Paul is, I knew he was going to find me. It was just a matter of trying to beat the goalie. I got it and was trying to go high blocker. I thought I saw some room on the right side and tried to put it there and fortunately it went in.
"I thought we played a pretty good second half in the third. I know they hemmed us in pretty good. We kind of poured it on. We had some chances near the end. Landy made a great play driving the net and Stats finished off. To get that point going to OT was huge and to get the second one was awesome."
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Roy went out of his way to praise goalie Semyon Varlamov, who didn't have much chance to stop any of the Senators goals and finished with 29 saves, nine in the third period. He did make some big stops, and the win came two days after Roy was highly critical of Jean-Sebastien Giguere following the loss to Calgary (which was blown out 6-0 Tuesday by Phoenix).
"We were a little shaky to start the third period and Varly made some great saves for us," Roy said. "It was a great performance by our goalie. He made some great saves in key moments of the game."
Varlamov picked up his 20th win and has gone 7-0-4 in his past 11 decisions. He hasn't lost in regulation since a 3-1 road loss to Phoenix on Dec. 10.
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The Avalanche went ahead 2-0 in the first period on goals by Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda. McGinn deflected Erik Johnson's point shot past Anderson on the Avalanche's only power play of the game and Hejda scored from the left point, using Landeskog as a screen.
The Senators drew within 2-1 on a goal by Clarke MacArthur. Bobby Ryan scooped up a loose puck after Avalanche defenseman Andre Benoit lost it and fell in his own end. Ryan came from behind the net and fed MacArthur in the slot.
Jason Spezza and Kyle Turris scored 1:25 apart in the second period to put the Senators ahead. Spezza was parked near the crease when he converted MacArthur's pass during a 5-on-3 power play and Turris scored with a one-timer from the left circle.
Cory Sarich (questionable slashing call) and Hejda (questionable delay of game) were in the penalty box when Spezza scored.
"There was a tough penalty that put them on a 5-on-3," Hejda said. "I thought the puck touched (Max) Talbot's skate (before it went over the glass). Then they scored two goals. That was a tough break for us. We settled down and then things started getting better. We were mentally strong and in the third period we all believed we could score."
***** Anderson, who made 27 saves, had won five games in a row before Wednesday.
"We came out a little flat in the first," he said. "They came out flying. We bounced back and we were able to get one in the first to get momentum for the second. That showed the work ethic of our guys. We lost our momentum with seven or eight minutes to go. They came at us hard. I played here four years ago. They were a late team that made a push at the end. We knew it was coming and they won the game."
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The Avalanche has beaten the Senators six consecutive times since a 6-2 loss Dec. 12, 2005 at the Pepsi Center ... Varlamov's win was his first against Ottawa in four career decisions ... Hejda's goal, his fifth of the season, tied a career high ... Matt Duchene had seven shots but failed to score a goal for the ninth consecutive game. He's still stuck at 98 career goals. Hate to pick on the officials, but Duchene was slashed while on a breakaway in the second period and didn't get a call ... McGinn has four goals in the past five games ... Landeskog had a career-high three assists. He has three goals and eight assists in an eight-game point-scoring streak, a career best ... Stastny has two goals and six assists in the past three games.