Landeskog, Duchene lead Avalanche to 5-3 win over Jets
DENVER (AP) Matt Duchene's slow start is becoming a distant memory.
Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Saturday night for a rare home win.
Blake Comeau, Carl Soderberg and Chris Wagner also scored for the Avalanche, who improved to 3-6-1 at Pepsi Center this season.
''Home ice hasn't been good enough and that's a big part of our record, what it is,'' Landeskog said. ''You have to be a good team at home and be at least .500 on the road. We have to start winning games on home ice.''
Duchene is doing his part with a record-setting November. The 24-year-old center has 11 goals this month, which is most in franchise history since Claude Lemieux had 10 in November in 1995.
''It is not a huge record or stat to have,'' he said. ''I think the biggest thing is it was just nice to get back on the sheet and help the team with the offense. That's the biggest thing and it was a big win for us.''
Duchene also has 20 points in November with a game to go at the New York Islanders on Monday. He leads Colorado with 12 goals this season.
''I'm playing with two amazing hockey players in Gabe and Nate (MacKinnon),'' Duchene said. ''They make it easier for me.''
Colorado's third home win was in jeopardy after Winnipeg rallied from a three-goal deficit to get within one on Jacob Trouba's goal midway through the third period.
The Jets pulled goalie Michael Hutchinson for an extra skater with 1:10 left, but Trouba was sent off for tripping. Hutchinson went off again and Duchene scored into the empty net.
Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd also scored for the Jets. Hutchinson had 20 saves.
''We were playing on their end for most of the third period,'' Trouba said. ''That's where we want to be. We just got to do that for 60 minutes.''
Colorado has struggled at home this season, including a 5-3 loss to Ottawa on Wednesday. Coach Patrick Roy called out Semyon Varlamov for letting in a bad goal to start the night, and he responded with 25 saves against Winnipeg.
''A lot of coaches, they would just put the goalie on the bench after the bad game but Patrick trusts in me and I appreciate it,'' Varlamov said. ''It's huge for me to get the confidence from him.''
The Avalanche got first-period goals from Comeau and Landeskog to take a 2-0 lead. Comeau scored on a breakaway after he stole the puck at center ice, and Landeskog converted a backhander midway through the period.
''We didn't have the legs we needed to compete at that level in the first period,'' Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. ''It's still not a lopsided period but we gave up a couple of good chances and they scored on them.''
Soderberg's fourth goal of the season early in the second period gave Colorado a 3-0 lead, but then the Jets started coming back.
Ladd cut the lead to 3-1 when Trouba's shot deflected off a Colorado stick and then hit off Ladd's body and past Varlamov at 9:05 of the second.
The Jets got within one when Wheeler scored a short-handed goal at 13:37. It was his ninth of the season, tying him for the team lead.
Wagner provided some breathing room for Colorado 2:48 into the third period with his second goal of the season and second in as many games, but Trouba cut into the lead with his second of the season.
NOTES: The Avalanche recalled LW Andrew Agozzino from San Antonio on Friday and he made his season debut against the Jets. ... The win was Roy's 100th. ... Winnipeg G Ondrej Pavelec missed his fourth game with a lower-body injury.
