It was quite a night at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday:

** World War II nurse Leila Morrison, 97, dropped the ceremonial first puck (more of a toss, actually) for the team captains, the Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog and Buffalo’s Jack Eichel, on Military Appreciation Night;

** Coach Jared Bednar wore a camouflage suit jacket as a tribute to the military;

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** Martin Kaut, in his fourth game, scored his first NHL goal, which came on a power play;

** J.T. Compher set up Landeskog’s first-period goal on a power play and scored the go-ahead goal with 8:06 to play;

** Vladislav Namestnikov made his Avalanche debut following his trade from Ottawa on Monday and had two shots and three hits in 12:17;

** Pavel Francouz made 31 saves in the Avalanche’s 3-2 win, their fourth win in a row moving them into second place in the Central Division.

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"It is a dream of mine. I am so happy for this moment," Kaut said of his goal. He converted the rebound of Vladislav Kamenev's shot to put the Avalanche in front 2-1 at 7:15 of the second period. "It was my dream to score my first NHL goal and I got it, so I am so happy. My mom was here, so that goal is for my mom. We'll celebrate tonight probably, just a little bit."

what a night 1️⃣🚨 pic.twitter.com/CiyQBe0ADH

— Martin Kaut (@kauly61) February 27, 2020

Kaut, who set up Compher’s goal Friday in a 1-0 win in Anaheim, played 11:13 Wednesday, had two shots and a hit.

“I think he’s shown that he’s capable to play at this level,” said Francouz, a fellow Czech and Kaut’s mentor. “He’s working hard and I’m really happy to see how good he’s playing.”

Tyson Jost had a big game while playing left wing on the second line with Compher and Joonas Donskoi. He played 17:42, had five shots and split six faceoffs. He won a board battle behind the net and got the puck to Donskoi, who passed to Compher for the winning goal.

“I have really liked his play here the last little bit,” Bednar said. “I love the determination and the grit in his game; it reminds me of last year's stretch run and down in the playoffs and what he was able to do for us. We are starting to see more and more of that in his game.”

Jost’s bad luck continued 2:38 into the third period when his goal was waved off when he redirected Nikita Zadorov's shot with a high stick. He’s gone 36 games without scoring since Jan. 30 in Chicago.

“That is just something he is going through, but if he keeps playing like that, he is going to be part of helping us produce offense as well,” Bednar said.

Francouz has gone 4-0-1 in his past five starts with a shutout, 1.56 goals-against average and .941 save percentage. He’s fifth in the NHL with a 2.26 goals-against average and tied with Pittsburgh’s Tristan Jarry for third with a .927 save percentage.

“It’s tough when you’re missing so many impact players, but Frankie’s been unbelievable, had to make some huge saves,” Compher said. “Everyone’s stepping up and we’re doing enough to keep this thing going.”

The Avalanche will play three games in four nights on the road starting Friday in Carolina. They’re in Nashville on Saturday and Detroit on Monday.

Bednar said Andre Burakovsky would make the trip. He’s missed the past two games because of an illness/upper body injury. Matt Nieto played Wednesday after being listed as doubtful on Tuesday.



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