DENVER (AFP) – Arturi Likonen, Andrew Cogliano and Alex Newhawk scored against former teammate Darcy Kuemper and stopped a rookie Colorado Avalanche over the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Tuesday night to give coach Jared Bednar his 266th victory.
Logan O’Connor added two assists, Nathan McKinnon an assist for his 700th point, and Alexander Georgiev added 37 tackles for the Avs’ season-best sixth straight victory. They moved into third place in the Central Division, one point ahead of Minnesota.
Bednar, who coached his 500th game with Colorado, improved to 266-185-49 and passed former Quebec Nordiques coach Michel Bergeron for the most coaching wins in franchise history.
“I’m glad I’m here and gone so we can stop talking about it,” Bednar said. “We didn’t play our best game tonight, so I’m happy we managed to get the two points.”
Alex Ovechkin returned from injury to score his 31st goal for Washington. Connor Cherry also scored and Comber stopped 23 shots in his first game in Denver since helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in June.
The crowd stood and applauded her after a halftime video of Quimper, who has won 37 regular season games and 10 more in the playoffs.
Avs chose not to re-sign Kuemper, who then signed a five-year deal with The Capitals in July.
“It was very difficult,” a choked Comber said of the tribute. “There were a lot of mixed feelings. It was very special to be back.”
He had his moments against his former team, including a neat glove save against Jacob McDonald and Lekkonen in the second period to hold one goal down. But a Newhawk goal with 4:21 left in the second made it 3-1.
The looted Capitals dominated the third period but lost for the fifth time in seven games as Georgiev made several saves.
“It was a really good stretch of defense for us,” said Georgiev.
Ovechkin’s one-time score at 9:44 of the third was his 811th goal after missing his first game of the season Saturday due to a lower-body injury.
“I don’t want to say I was 100%, but I was able to play,” said Ovechkin.
Washington was without TJ Oshie, who left to be with his wife for the birth of their fourth child. And Niklas Backström was a late scratcher with a non-COVID illness.
Then Tom Wilson came out in the second period after blocking a shot and was x-rayed between periods.
“At the moment, he has an injury in his lower body,” said coach Peter Laviolette.
The Avalanche, never trailing during their winning streak, finished Kuemper at 8:57 of the first when McKinnon absorbed Dmitri Orlov’s big hit and edged Lykonen to score his 15th goal and sixth in six games.
Cogliano redirected a Curtis McDiarmid shot 2:04 into the second to make it 2-0. Cherry cut the deficit in half when he headed in Martin Fairfare’s shot for his 12th goal just over two minutes later.
He broke the cup
It also saw running back Washington’s Nicholas Opp-Coppel, who had 22 points in 67 games for the Avs in 2021-22, recall him for dropping and threatening the trophy during an on-ice celebration.
“It’s part of my journey here,” Aube-Kubel said with a smile of emotion, adding that the season was “the best time of my life.”
Notes: Avs D Cale Makar (upper body) trained on Monday and participated in the morning ski, but missed his fourth consecutive game. … Ephesus W Anton Blidh concessions and skated to the fourth line. … Aliaksei Protas centered on Washington’s third line in his first NHL action since January 5 and Georgiev stole it in the first period. … The Capitals have only four games left outside the Eastern Time Zone.
next one
Capitals: Host Pittsburgh Thursday night.
Avalanche: Host Anaheim Thursday night.
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