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Baertschi helps Miller get 350th win, Canucks beat Avalanche (Jan 02, 2017)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Ryan Miller grew up idolizing John Vanbiesbrouck and Tom Barrasso. Now, his name sits alongside them in the NHL record books.
Miller made 24 saves, including a key stop in the waning seconds, to pick up his 350th career victory as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday night.
The 36-year-old Miller joined Vanbiesbrouck (374) and Barrasso (369) as the only U.S.-born goalies to reach 350 wins.
''It was something I had kind of identified that would be exciting to be a part of,'' Miller said of the milestone. ''I've been waiting a little longer than I thought.
''It feels pretty good. You play a lot of hockey to reach that point.''
Sven Baertschi had two goals and Bo Horvat also scored to help the Canucks win four straight for the first time since opening the season 4-0-0. Henrik Sedin added two assists, while Daniel Sedin picked up the 600th assist of his career on the winner.
After Baertschi scored his second of the night and 10th of the season with a power-play goal on a rebound with 3:37 left in the third, Miller held the fort as the Avalanche pushed late. Loui Eriksson turned the puck over at his own blue line, forcing Miller to make a great stop on Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog in tight moments before the final buzzer.
''I try not to relax. They're going to take the chance at the line and they got their break,'' said Miller, the 21st goalie in NHL history to get to 350 wins. ''I just tried to be patient.''
The Canucks got back to .500 for the first time since Oct. 29 and improved to 6-2-1 over their last nine.
''We talked about each guy being five percent better,'' Daniel Sedin said. ''That's the difference in this league from winning and losing. I think guys are really buying in right now.''
Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Barrie scored for Colorado, which sits last overall in the NHL. Calvin Pickard stopped 21 shots as the Avalanche lost their fourth straight ninth in their last 10.
Down 2-1 in the third, Barrie tied things up with 8:18 left with his third of the season and first in 19 games on a shot from the point that flew into the top corner through traffic.
''I thought we played pretty decent,'' said Pickard. ''We just need to find a way to get to overtime at that point and find a way to get a point and then go for two. It's tough to lose in regulation again.''
The Canucks snapped a 1-1 tie with 1:45 left in the second period, moments after an Avalanche penalty expired when Baertschi took a feed from Brandon Sutter and ripped his ninth off the post and in past Pickard.
Baertschi now has six goals and five assists in 10 games since being a healthy scratch on Dec. 11.
''I've been able to get on the scoresheet,'' Baertschi said. ''But I'm more excited about how well we've been playing.''
Vancouver came close to opening the scoring on another power play early in the period, but Troy Stecher hit the post before Pickard, who started a fifth consecutive game with Semyon Varlamov still sidelined with a groin problem, made consecutive saves on Baertschi and Sutter.
The Canucks finally got on the board at 4:48 when Horvat scored his team-leading 11th. Anton Rodin made a nice play in the neutral zone up to Ben Hutton, who moved in on a 2-on-1 rush before feeding Horvat. The assist for Rodin was the first of his NHL career in his second game.
Colorado tied it at 6:53 when the league's 29th-ranked power play snapped an 0-for-25 streak. Already down a man and with one defender minus a broken stick, Vancouver's Markus Granlund couldn't clear the zone, and the puck eventually found its way to Rantanen, who beat Miller upstairs through a screen for his sixth.
''We had to get our legs going,'' Baertschi said. ''I thought there were moments throughout the game where we really dominated, but we also took some penalties. That's just part of it. Kind of took away our momentum, but we were able to come out with the win.''
After Baertschi gave his team the lead late in the second, Miller made a nice pad save on Mikhail Grigorenko off a scramble 4:30 into the third period.
Sutter appeared to have made it 3-1 at 7:16, but his shot off the crossbar and the post stayed out and was waved off after video review.
Miler then made another nice stop on Nathan MacKinnon on a burst through the slot before Barrie tied it.
NOTES: Rodin took the place of Alexandre Burrows (eye injury) alongside Horvat and Baertischi. The 26-year-old was the MVP of the Swedish Hockey League in 2015-16 despite having his season end in January after his knee was sliced by a skate blade. Rodin had two goals and three assists for the Canucks in five exhibition contests, but aggravated the injury and didn't suit up for Vancouver until Dec. 23. He had been a healthy scratch the last three games.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: At Calgary on Wednesday night.
Canucks: Host Arizona on Wednesday night.
