ANAHEIM, Calif.—Chris Pronger scored the tying goal early in the third period and Mathieu Schneider got the game-winner with 1:29 left in overtime, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.
Jonas Hiller faced just 12 shots in his fifth start of the season for Anaheim while Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the night off after posting his first shutout of the season. The Ducks had 38 shots against Peter Budaj, after being held to just 16 in Tuesday’s 2-0 win at San Jose.
Each team had only one power play chance—until Colorado center Cody McCormick received a delay-of-game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass with 22.2 seconds left in regulation. The Avalanche survived that scare, but Schneider ended it with his fifth goal of the season.
Chris Kunitz carried the puck into the zone on a 2-on-1 rush and fed a cross-ice pass to Schneider, whose wrist shot beat Budaj high to the glove side as Milan Hejduk flopped on his stomach in an attempt to block it.
Hiller faced only five shots before McCormick converted Ian Laperriere’s pass from behind the net at 8:33 of the second period, beating the Avalanche goalie to the stick side while Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin was tying up Hejduk in front of the crease.
Pronger tied it with 16:15 left in the third period. Ryan Carter carried the puck into the zone and left a drop pass for Todd Marchant, whose 30-foot wrist shot was stopped by Budaj. However, he couldn’t control the rebound, and Pronger backhanded the puck under the goalie’s right skate for his sixth goal of the season.
Colorado left wing Ryan Smyth missed his first game of the season because of a stiff neck. Captain Joe Sakic sat out his 10th straight game with a groin injury. He missed only one over the previous three seasons combined, due to an injured jaw.
Defenseman Jordan Leopold also didn’t play for the Avalanche. Leopold, who received stitches in his right leg during a practice session last week, was sent back to Denver on Tuesday after the stitches opened up in Monday’s 4-2 win at Los Angeles. It was only his third game back after missing the previous 21 because of an injured wrist.
Brad May, who was traded from Colorado to Anaheim last Feb. 27, was sidelined because of a broken bone in his right foot. The injury occurred during Saturday’s practice. This was the first game between the teams since that trade.
Notes:@ The Avalanche played back-to-back games against Anaheim and Los Angeles on the same road trip for the 11th time in franchise history—and have never won both games. … Budaj has allowed just six goals on 122 shots on net during Colorado’s last four games. … McCormick’s goal snapped a 22-game drought. … Anaheim has not allowed a third-period goal over its last seven home games. … The Ducks have scored no more than two goals in any of their last five games overall. … Colorado D Karlis Skrastins, whose NHL-record playing streak for defensemen ended at 495 games the last time these teams met on Feb. 25, 2007, has played in only 19 of Colorado’s first 34 games because of a shoulder injury. … The Avalanche missed the playoffs last season while the Ducks went on to win their first Stanley Cup. The two times the Avalanche won the Cup, the Ducks missed the postseason.
