BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rookie Matt Hendricks scored on a backhand in the 11th round of a shootout Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres to give the Avalanche a 4-3 victory.
After giving up a two-goal lead in the third period, Colorado kept the game going twice in the shootout on score-or-go-home situations.
Initially, it looked like the Avs would roll.
Avs rookie Matt Duchene opened the scoring 7:35 into the game. The goal came after Duchene poked the puck away from Buffalo defenseman Henrik Tallinder and slipped it to Hendricks, then took a return pass and beat Sabres backup goalie Patrick Lalime, who got a rare start in place of U.S. Olympian Ryan Miller.
Duchene made it 2-0 at 13:28 of the period. Fellow rookie Brandon Yip dug the puck out of the corner, and Milan Hejduk carried it around the net and backhanded it to the front of Lalime. Duchene scored out of the scramble.
The Sabres got within 2-1 on Drew Stafford’s power-play score at 17:05 of the second period, but Yip put Colorado back up by two only 62 seconds later. Thomas Vanek’s 12th goal of the season closed the gap to 3-2 at 9:19 of the third, and Jochen Hecht’s shot beat Craig Anderson to make it 3-3 with 4:12 left in regulation.
The Avalanche was without captain Adam Foote, who traveled back to Denver so team doctors could evaluate the ankle injury he suffered against Carolina on Friday.
