Iginla, Tanguay score, Avalanche beat Stars
Colorado has struggled to score pretty goals lately, so it got scrappy in an effort to turn around a disappointing season.
Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist, Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Saturday night.
Jarome Iginla and Gabriel Landeskog had goals for the Avalanche, who snapped a four-game skid. They have beaten the Stars in all four of their meetings this season.
On Saturday, the Avalanche, which got goals from three different lines, benefited from deflected pucks to get the win.
"It doesn't have to be flashy all the time or perfect all the time," coach Patrick Roy said.
Jason Spezza scored and goaltender Jhonas Enroth had 26 saves in his first start since being acquired by the Stars from Buffalo on Wednesday.
"When the game was under its way it didn't feel anything special," Enroth said. "It actually felt pretty normal. I'm still trying to learn some names and different plays and stuff like that. It's going to take a couple days but I'm sure it's going to get better."
Dallas came into the game short-handed. Leading scorer Tyler Seguin is out 3-6 weeks with a knee injury suffered in Friday night's win over Florida, and Ales Hemskey and Patrick Eaves were also out.
The injuries are a big blow to the Stars' playoff hopes. They came into the night three points out of the last wild card spot but have a tough schedule ahead.
The Avalanche are trying to climb back into the playoff race and are trying to make the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time in nine years.
Roy and his players have set a goal of 95 points in the last 27 games, and they got two important points against the Stars.
"We know we need to get to 95 points," Roy said. "We have 38 to get. We don't have to look at the standings, it's 95. Hopefully we can build off tonight."
Landeskog got things started with a goal at 11:28 of the first. Nathan MacKinnon picked up the assist.
Tanguay made it 2-0 when he scored on a rebound at 5:28 of the second. It was his 15th of the season, second to Iginla on the team.
Dallas had chances to get on the board in the second period but couldn't cash in. Varlamov made a sprawling pad save on Vernon Fiddler early in the frame, the Stars hit a post and Spezza's goal at 14:48 of the period was waved off because of a hand pass.
"You have to have possession of the puck after it hit my hand," he said. "You hope you get the call but I understood the ruling."
Iginla made it 3-0 at 3:20 of the third when Brad Stuart's shot from the point went off his leg and past Enroth. It was his 18th of the season.
The Stars pulled Enroth for an extra skater midway through the third and Spezza spoiled the shutout with a goal soon after.
Enroth came off again with 2:26 left and Varlamov made two saves to keep it a two-goal lead.
"I thought he played well," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said of Enroth. "Nothing he could do on the first one, a backdoor goal that we lost coverage. Third one was deflected. There was nothing that went through him. Couple of tough breaks."
Dennis Everberg scored in the final minute when Enroth came back in after a Dallas icing call.
NOTES: The Stars recalled RW Brett Ritchie and C Travis Morin from the Texas Stars of the AHL on Saturday. ... Avalanche C Daniel Briere was a healthy scratch. ... Dallas LW Antoine Roussel served the second of his two-game suspension for cross-checking Boston's Adam McQuaid on Tuesday.
