Ottawa, Ontario: Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves and Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell scored for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Varlamov was six seconds away from his second shutout of the season and 13th of his career until Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators.
Matt Duchene had two assists for the Avalanche, who have won three of four and seven of their last nine.
Robin Lehner made his second straight start for the Senators since Craig Anderson was injured last week in a loss to the Nashville Predators. Lehner made 19 saves, but had no chance on any of the goals he allowed.
Nursing a 1-0 lead heading into the third period, the Avalanche were awarded their first and only power play of the game when Ottawa’s Chris Neil closed his hand on the puck and was called for delay of game.
Duchene took a shot during the man advantage that Lehner stopped, but the rebound went right to Holden who was alone at the side of the net and scored at 3:10. The Senators pressed throughout the period, but the game was virtually over when Mitchell beat Lehner from in tight with less than three minutes to go.
Following a scoreless opening period, Ottawa held a heavy edge in play over the second 20 minutes.
Ottawa outshot the Avalanche 20-8 in the second period, but it was former Senator Andre Benoit who scored the period’s only goal and gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the process.
The Avalanche broke out 3-on-1 late in the period and, after receiving a drop pass from Patrick Bordeleau, Benoit moved into the slot and put a shot over Lehner’s shoulder.
Benoit was a fan favourite in Ottawa despite playing just 41 games for the Senators over two seasons. He has played in 66 of Colorado’s 68 games this season. He also has nine goals in 107 career games, but four of those have come in his last nine games.
