Music: {allcanada} Avalanche rally in third to beat Jets

Sunday, October 27, 2013

{allcanada} Avalanche rally in third to beat Jets

DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche showed Sunday night that they are capable of rallying too.

Trailing after two periods for the first time this season, the Avalanche got third-period goals from Paul Stastny and Jan Hejda to pull out a 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Pepsi Center for their 10th victory in 11 games.

Stastny and Hejda scored 7:19 apart. In-between, the Avalanche killed off a high-sticking penalty to John Mitchell. They thwarted all five of the Jets' power plays.

Stastny was parked just outside the crease on the left side when Gabriel Landeskog slid the puck to him through the slot. Stastny shot inside the left post to break a 2-2 tie.

Hejda scored at 7:13 to tie the game with a shot from the inner half of the left faceoff circle with a screen shot that sailed over goalie Al Montoya's left shoulder. Stastny put a shot on goal and Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien swept the puck away, but it went right to Hejda.

Blake Wheeler scored from the right point at 10:02of the second period to give the Jets a 2-1 lead. The puck trickled behind goalie Semyon Varlamov four seconds after the Avalanche finished killing off a Cory Sarich penalty for interference.

The Avalanche went into the third period trailing for the first time this season.

Colorado opened the scoring at 8:04 of the first period on Matt Duchene's ninth goal of the season. Steve Downie put a shot on goal from the right side, Montoya kicked the rebound into the left circle and Duchene banged the rebound into an open net.

Duchene tied the team record for goals in October. Joe Sakic scored nine in 1997; Peter Forsberg did it in 2000 and Chris Stewart in 2010.

The Jets tied the game at the 11-minute mark after Adam Pardy shot the puck off the end boards. The puck ricocheted to the opposite side and Bryan Little fired it inside the right post before Varlamov could slide over in time.

The Jets announced before the game that defenseman Paul Postma has a blood clot in his leg and will be sidelined indefinitely. Postma played Saturday in the Jets' 2-1 shootout win against the Dallas Stars.

Postma will take blood thinners and remain with the team through Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Blues, the final game of a four-game road trip. Postma will be examiner further when the Jets return to Winnipeg.

Avalanche left wing Jamie McGinn was a late scratch because of a knee injury.

Sycamore Row - John Grisham