Ryan O’Reilly scores winner, Avalanche beat Senators 4-3
By APWednesday, December 30, 2009
O’Reilly lifts Avalanche past Senators
OTTAWA — Ryan O’Reilly scored the winning goal early in the third period, and Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots in the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.
O’Reilly’s goal gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead en route to their second straight victory and fourth in five games. Rookie Matt Duchene, Kyle Quincey and Chris Durno also scored for Northwest Division-leading Colorado, 8-2-1 against the Eastern Conference and 4-0 against the Northeast Division.
Ryan Shannon scored twice for Ottawa, and Nick Foligno added a goal. Foligno returned to the lineup after missing seven games because of a knee injury.
O’Reilly made it 4-1 early in the third, but the Senators made it close when Foligno redirected a point shot, and Shannon scored his second from close range with a little less than 6 minutes to go.
Notes: The Senators scratched rookie defenseman Erik Karlsson for the third straight game. … Veteran defenseman John-Michael Liles was among the healthy scratches for the Avalanche.
