
DENVER (AP) - Jannik Hansen scored the decisive goal with 2:08 remaining, Mikael Samuelsson had his first NHL hat trick and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-4, on Tuesday night.
Hansen snapped the tie with an unusual goal that was confirmed by video replay. Aaron Rome took a shot from the point that bounced off the end boards. Hansen rushed into the crease between the net and goalie Craig Anderson, and the puck caromed in off his body.
Daniel Sedin added an empty-net goal with 8.8 seconds left to seal the Canucks' fourth straight win over Colorado. The Avalanche was denied in its bid to move into a tie with Northwest Division-leading Vancouver.
Down 3-0 and 4-1, Vancouver pulled within 4-3 when Samuelsson scored his third goal of the night at 18:18 of the second period, picking up a loose puck in the crease and tapping it past Anderson.
The Canucks tied it with 11:56 remaining when Alex Burrows, positioned in front of Anderson, deflected in Christian Ehrhoff's shot.
Colorado scored three goals in the first period, netting the first two in a 28-second span.
The Avalanche started the scoring when Peter Mueller, skating behind the net, got the puck out to Matt Duchene. He punched it in with a shot from just outside the right post at 6:17 of the first period.
T.J. Galiardi set up the second goal, passing the puck ahead to Chris Stewart, who gathered speed skating down the right side before ripping a slapshot from a tough angle near the lower edge of the circle that slipped by goalie Roberto Luongo.
The Avalanche made it 3-0 on Duchene's second goal of the night and 23rd of the season at 13:26 of the first.
Paul Stastny, matching a career-high with his 50th assist, gained the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Duchene. The rookie cut into the slot and threw a puck toward the net that glanced off the skate of Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler, causing a change of direction that Luongo could not adjust to in time.
Vancouver scored its first goal when Samuelsson netted his first of the night at 6:40 of the second period, but the Avalanche came right back on an unassisted score by Mueller 36 seconds later.
Samuelsson made it 4-2 at 11:45 of the second, knocking a rebound past Anderson.
NOTES: Duchene leads all NHL rookies with 10 power-play goals. ... Mueller has at least one point in each of his four games for Colorado since being acquired a week ago in a trade with Phoenix. ... Samuelsson boosted his point total to a career-high 46. His 27 goals this season rank second on the Canucks to Burrows' 30.
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