Avalanche Beat Bruins 3-2
BOSTON -- Matt Duchene scored his sixth goal in the last five games on go-ahead wrister midway through the third period to help the Colorado Avalanche erase a two-goal deficit and earn a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden.
The Avalanche center finished off a pass from center Mikhail Grigorenko at 6:39 of the final period after center Ben Street forced a costly turnover from Bruins defenseman Kevin Miller.
Colorado (6-9-1) has now won eight consecutive games in Boston.
Swedish center Carl Soderberg, playing his first game back in Boston since leaving the team in free agency last June, and defenseman Francois Beauchemin also scored goals for Colorado, which is now 2-6-1 in one-goal games this season.
Goalie Reto Berra, who started in place of Semyon Varlamov after the Avalanche's top netminder tweaked a groin injury during practice at nearby Boston University, made 25 saves.
Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson recorded his 200th NHL point on a second-period assist while veteran right winger Jerome Iginla, who also spent time with the Bruins, tallied an assist on Soderberg's goal to move him into 37th place on the NHL'a all-time points list.
Defenseman Zdeno Chara and center Ryan Spooner each netted a goal for the Bruins (7-7-1), who opened their season-long five-game home stand with a loss.
Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, who had 27 saves, has given up 27 goals in seven games at home this season.
Chara kicked off a busy opening period with his second goal of the year on a blue-line slap shot in front of the left point, putting the Bruins ahead 1-0 just over a minute in.
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy challenged the call after Berra was consumed by the scrum in front of the net, but the goal was upheld.
Boston capitalized on an early hooking penalty as Spooner went top shelf to double the lead 5:51 into the first, giving the Bruins their eighth straight game with a power-play goal.
Soderberg beat old teammate Rask for a high glove-side goal make it 2-1 at 12:08 of the first and Avalanche defenseman Francois Beauchemin evened the score at 2-2 on his goal with 28.2 seconds left in the period.
Colorado left winger Gabriel Landeskog received a match penalty and was ejected with 14:14 remaining in a scoreless second period after a cross-ice hit to the head of Bruins left winger Brad Marchand, who stayed in the game.
NOTES: Bruins D Dennis Seidenberg (back) was a game-time decision after participating in morning skate and pregame warm-ups before making his season debut Thursday. "He always works hard to get back, to be in top shape and he's done that again this time," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. ... Colorado G Semyon Varlamov (groin) missed his third consecutive game. ... Avalanche D Brad Stuart (back) was flown back to Denver to be re-evaluated. Colorado recalled D Zach Redmond from AHL San Antonio. ... Avalanche coach Patrick Roy told ESPN.com before Thursday's game that he is in favor of bigger nets and smaller goalie equipment. "I think it will help the scoring," the Hall of Fame goaltender said. ... Boston signed LW Jake DeBrusk, RW Zach Senyshyn and D Jeremy Lauzon to entry-level contracts. ... Thursday was Military Appreciation Night at TD Garden. The Bruins wore camouflage jerseys during warm-ups.
