Colorado Avalanche vs Anaheim Ducks Box Score on Feb 21, 2020

J.T. Compher broke through in a tight defensive battle to score a second-period goal, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their road winning streak to five games with a 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

Goalie Pavel Francouz made 26 saves while earning his first career shutout as Colorado posted its second consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak. Francouz's effort came on the same day he agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Avalanche, reportedly for $2 million per season.

Goalie John Gibson stopped 28 shots for Anaheim, which lost its third consecutive game and fell for the fourth time in the past five contests. The Ducks are 0-2-0 to open a six-game homestand.

After more than 36 minutes in a scoreless battle, the Avalanche turned a rare defensive mistake from either team into a goal. Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm fired a pass from the side of his own goal to the blue line, but it was intercepted by the Avalanche's Martin Kaut.

Colorado struck quickly as Kaut moved in on the Ducks' goal then sent a pass to Compher, who one-timed a shot past Gibson. It was Compher's ninth goal of the season, while the assist gave Kaut his first career NHL point in his second career game.

The Avalanche turned up the offensive intensity in the second period as they outshot the Ducks 14-5 after shots were even 10-10 in a scoreless opening period.

It was a key victory for the Avalanche, who overtook the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division and are in one of the busiest stretches of the schedule. The Friday game was their 10th in an 11-game, 19-day run that concludes with another road game Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

The defensive miscue in the second period came in Lindholm's 500th career NHL game. Jakob Silfverberg was playing in his 500th game with the Ducks, and Adam Henrique was playing in his 200th game with Anaheim.

The Ducks took the ice a few hours after forward Ondrej Kase was traded to the Boston Bruins for forward David Backes, defense prospect Axel Andersson and a 2020 first-round draft pick.

--Field Level Media