Eurolanche

Devil of a time

Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists, Semyon Varlamov made 18 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Wednesday night.

Milan Hejduk had a goal and an assist, and T.J. Galiardi, Jay McClement, Stefan Elliott and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche. Kyle Quincey had two assists.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored New Jersey's only goal, and Martin Brodeur made 19 saves in the loss.

The Avalanche scored three times on their first five shots. Hejduk got the Avalanche started when he beat Brodeur with a snap shot just 7:37 in for his eighth goal of the season.

Galiardi made it 2-0 when he capitalized on a turnover behind the net. He picked up the loose puck and beat Brodeur with a wrister with 5:46 left in the first for his second of the season.

Hejda used a screen from Paul Stastny to net his third with 3:58 left in the first to give the Avalanche a 3-0 lead.

The Devils got one back when Kovalchuk jammed a puck between Varlamov and the post midway through the second period.

O'Reilly restored Colorado's three-goal lead when he chipped a puck over Brodeur 2:47 into the third for his third goal.

McClement iced the game with a shorthanded goal when he one-timed a centering pass from Quincey midway through the third.

Elliott closed the scoring when he netted his second goal of the season late in the third to make it 6-1.

Brodeur entered with a 16-7-4 mark against Colorado with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. Those numbers took a hit with his worst game of the season.

NOTES: The Avalanche are 6-1 against the Eastern Conference and 5-12-1 against the West.  Colorado has killed 14 power-play chances over the last four games. The Avalanche improved to 3-3 on their eight-game homestand. ...New Jersey has allowed just one power-play goal in 14 games.

--by Associated Press--