Would you believe ... the Avalanche moved into first place in the Central Division on Thursday night with a 4-2 win in Vancouver as goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 38 shots for his 41st victory to break the franchise record he shared with former star goalie and first-year coach Patrick Roy.
Paul Stastny scored two goals, Tyson Barrie broke a 2-2 tie with 7:30 left in regulation and John Mitchell scored an empty-net goal with 42.2 seconds remaining while the Avalanche was on a power play. Gabriel Landeskog drew a slashing penalty by Yannick Weber with 2:07 to go to put the Avalanche on the power play.
The Avalanche has tied the franchise record for wins in a season with No. 52. Colorado has gone 8-0-1 in the past nine games and 5-0-1 in the past six on the road.
Huge win for the boys to take over the division lead! Now let's keep it, and go win the West! #WhyNotUs
— Matt Duchene (@Matt9Duchene) April 11, 2014The Avalanche and St. Louis Blues, who lost 4-2 in Minnesota, have 52-21-7 records and 111 points with two games left in the regular season. The Avalanche holds the tiebreaker with more regulation and overtime (non-shootout) wins 47-43.
The Chicago Blackhawks are third with a 46-19-15 record, 107 points and 40 regulation and overtime wins.
Regardless of what happens in the final two games, the Avalanche has clinched no worse than second place in the division and home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
The Avalanche plays Friday in San Jose and Sunday in Anaheim. The Blues play Friday at Dallas and Detroit at home on Sunday.