Varlamov makes 44 saves, Avalanche shut out Canadiens

DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves for the Colorado Avalanche, who tied a franchise record with their 10th straight home win, 2-0 against the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
The Quebec Nordiques won 10 straight at home in 1983-84 and 1994-95.

"You're always happy when your team wins and you get a shutout. I'm very happy," said Varlamov, who has two shutouts this season and 23 in his NHL career.
WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Avalanche highlights]
It was Varlamov's first game at home since Jan. 2 against the Winnipeg Jets, when he sustained a groin injury in the second period and missed 10 games.
"[This] was a heavy game, very difficult to play," he said. "It seems like they were shooting from everywhere. We know how important those two points are. We have to play every game like it's the last game. That's how we're going to make the playoffs."

Carl Soderberg and Alex Kerfoot scored for the Avalanche (31-21-4), who are two points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"We needed that win," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I don't know how exactly, but we found a way to get it done. We've been good here, I didn't love us tonight, but [Varlamov] comes up big and gets us a win. That's what you need sometimes out of your goaltenders. He was really good and we needed the points."
Antti Niemi made 23 saves for the Canadiens (22-27-7), who have lost three in a row (0-2-1) and are 2-5-1 in their past eight.

"You can give a goaltender credit because there's no doubt he played well, but it doesn't matter," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "You have to find ways to get goals, whether it's traffic, whether it's picking up the loose pucks around the net and finding ways to score goals. We can't keep giving the goaltender on the other side credit all the time. We have to take the responsibility of saying it's our job to score goals."
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on Soderberg's goal at 15:55 of the second period, his 11th. Gabriel Bourque sent the puck behind the net, Soderberg gained possession and beat Niemi with a wraparound, shooting the puck between his pads.
"I had a step on the defense and I just tried to get it to the net and I was fortunate to get that goal," Soderberg said.
Kerfoot scored his 14th goal with 3:02 to play in the third period for a 2-0 lead. The puck deflected to him in the slot and he banked it in off the inside of Niemi's blocker.

"I think I had the whole net there and it found a way to squeak in," Kerfoot said. "It was good that we got one at the end there. [Varlamov] was unbelievable, and he's been like that all year long for us. He won the game for us singlehandedly tonight."
The Avalanche killed four Montreal power plays, holding the Canadiens without a shot on goal during a 5-on-3 that lasted 40 seconds early in the third period.
"It was unfortunate in a close game like that, to have a 5-on-3 and I think we made a few mistakes," Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk said. "We had to capitalize on that opportunity and we didn't."
Said Bednar: "We did get a huge penalty kill there. I thought the penalty kill was good. I really liked our last eight minutes, we started managing the puck, charging to the red line, putting it behind them and putting a little pressure on them."

Goal of the game

Soderberg's goal at 15:55 of the second period.

Save of the game

Varlamov stops Galchenyuk at 11:10 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Varlamov makes a series of saves, beginning at 5:21 of the third period.

They said it

"You can't pick a playoff team right now where their goalies haven't stolen them games during the year. We need it every once in a while when you don't have your best stuff. That's what we got tonight. I loved his game" -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, on Semyon Varlamov
"Overall I felt pretty good. Especially on the road, we need some great games from individuals, so I would like to be able to step up and make those saves." -- Canadiens goalie Antti Niemi

Need to know

The Avalanche have scored first in all 10 games of their streak. They haven't lost at home since Dec. 27, 3-1 to the Arizona Coyotes. ... Varlamov has a 6-0-1 career record with two shutouts against the Canadiens. ... The Avalanche were 0-for-2 on power plays and are 1-for-20 in the past six games. ... It was the 3,000th regular-season game for the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado franchise, the 1,744th game for the Avalanche. Quebec was 497-599-160 (ties) from 1979-95 and Colorado is 876-656-111 with 101 ties.

What's next

Canadiens:At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Avalanche:At the Winnipeg Jets on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, ALT, NHL.TV)