VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Cale Makar had a goal and an assist and Gabriel Landeskog added an empty-netter for the Avalanche, who scored three times on the power play. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots.
Tucker Poolman had a goal and an assist, and Conor Garland also scored for Vancouver, which lost its fifth straight to fall to 5-10-2. Thatcher Demko had 26 saves.
The Avalanche were 3 for 5 with the man advantage while the Canucks went scoreless on three power plays. Vancouver came into the game with the worst penalty kill in the league. It killed just 62.3 per cent of the penalties it faced across the first 16 games of the year.
Trailing 3-2 late in the third, the Canucks pulled Demko for an extra skater in a bid to score another equalizer, but instead saw Landeskog bury an empty-net shot with 10 seconds left.
The Canucks briefly took the lead 1:30 into the third when Poolman scored his first goal in a Canucks jersey. His shot from the top of the faceoff circle hit Keumper and got caught under the goalie's pads before trickling over the goal line to put Vancouver up 2-1.
The Canucks had little time to celebrate, though - seconds later, Alex Chiasson was called for elbowing. The ensuing penalty kill saw Demko lunge across the goalmouth before Kadri tapped a puck into the open net to knot the score at 2-2 at 2:19.
Pushing and shoving followed the goal, and both Rantanen and Vancouver forward J.T. Miller were sent to the box for roughing.
The Avalanche regained the lead at 3:12 after Vancouver's Quinn Hughes was called for cross checking Samuel Girard. Devon Toews sent a slick pass to Makar, who unleashed a rocket from the top of the faceoff circle to make it 3-2 just 10 seconds into the power play.
Colorado got off to a strong start, outshooting the Canucks 9-1 in the first 10 minutes of the game. Alex Newhook had a prime opportunity when he tried to jam a puck in from the top of the crease, only to see Demko make the stop. Russian rookie Vasily Podkolzin was called for hooking Newhook on the play.
The Avs capitalized on the man advantage at 7:17 with Rantenan blasting a wrist shot over Demko's glove for his sixth goal of the season.
Vancouver tied it at 8:52 of the second following heavy pressure on the Avs' net.
Garland had a shot at one side of the net blocked, with the puck bouncing out to Jason Dickinson at the top of the crease. Dickinson got a piece of the puck and sent it rolling through the blue paint as Garland made his way to the other side of the net in time to tap a backhanded shot in behind Keumper's skate for his fourth goal of the year.
The Canucks followed the tally with a great 2-on-1 just moments later, but Keumper got a piece of Nils Hoglander's shot, sending it up and out of play.
NOTES: Chants of ''Fire Benning'' broke out in the upper bowl midway through the third period, referring to Canucks general manager Jim Benning. ... Colorado D Bowen Byram was scratched from the lineup after suffering a concussion in the Avs' win over the Canucks last week.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: At Seattle on Friday night to wrap up a two-game trip.
Canucks: Host Winnipeg on Friday night in the middle game of a three-game homestand.
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