Francouz makes 29 saves, Avalanche shut out Senators

DENVER -- Pavel Francouz made 29 saves for the Colorado Avalanche in a 7-0 win against the Ottawa Senators at Ball Arena on Saturday.

It was the first shutout of the season for Francouz and his fourth in the NHL.
"These early games are a little bit different because you don't have morning skate, so the routine is kind of off, so I feel like I'm a little bit sleepy always," Francouz said. "I felt better with every save today. I think that was big that we scored two early goals, and that helped us feel better."
Artturi Lehkonen and Alex Newhook each had two goals and an assist, and Mikko Rantanen scored twice for the Avalanche (21-17-3), who had lost seven of eight (1-6-1).
"I thought we played great tonight right from the drop of the puck," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought Newhook was outstanding. [Logan O'Connor], after going through a little bit of a rough stretch, him and [Andrew Cogliano] were great tonight. 'Lehky' obviously had a good night. Our top guys were good again."

Anton Forsberg made 26 saves for the Senators (19-20-3), who have lost three of four.
"They're the Stanley Cup champions, so they're a [heck] of a hockey team, but 7-0? We should never get beat like that," Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. "It's on us. Just turnovers, the way we played, all of us. We weren't good at all tonight.
"It's embarrassing."
Rantanen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period when his snap shot from the right face-off circle beat Forsberg short side over his glove.
"I think we were checking hard. We were skating when we were defending," Rantanen said. "Last two games, we've been kind of not skating and just let the guy have the puck [for] too much time, and there's a lot of good players in this league. If they get too much time, you're going to lose some games, so we were really good at that, and obviously, 'Frankie' was exceptional again."

Newhook extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:50, skating into a pass from Cogliano and scoring with a slap shot from the top of the left circle.
"I think it was a great play by [O'Connor] and 'Cogs' to check the puck back there," Newhook said. "That was a big emphasis for us, to forecheck, and they did. I was just trying to come in late, be an option, and 'Cogs' made a great pass to me, and I just tried to put it in the net."
Lehkonen pushed it to 3-0 at 9:05 of the second period when he warded off Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson on a partial breakaway and scored with a backhand in tight.
"The pretty stuff doesn't ever work unless your compete level's high," Bednar said. "When you see a pretty goal, it's usually because a couple other guys on the ice were doing some heavy lifting, winning a battle, winning a race, and making a firm puck play into the right area of the ice."
Rantanen made it 4-0 at 15:57 with a shot from the left circle that went under Forsberg's right pad. It was his fifth goal in his past six games.
"Really determined player. Wants to make an impact every night and has made an impact on basically every night," Bednar said. "Just trying to push himself to another level, the next level. He knows our team needs it. I just see a highly determined player in all areas of his game."
Lehkonen scored a power-play goal to make it 5-0 at 8:18 of the third period. He received a backhand pass from Nathan MacKinnon all alone in front and finished with a backhand with his back turned to Forsberg.

Brad Hunt extended it to 6-0 at 15:49 with a one-timer from the blue line before Newhook scored at 18:10 for the 7-0 final.
"He's a good player," Rantanen said of Newhook. "He's a very speedy guy and can shoot the puck like we saw two times today. He was really strong today. He was strong on the puck and it was fun to watch."
Senators defenseman Artem Zub left the game after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period.
"Lower body, didn't finish the game," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "Won't play next game. We'll see from there."
NOTES: Rantanen passed Joe Sakic for the most goals (29) at the midway point of the season in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history. He also leads the NHL with 24 even-strength goals. … Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues had an assist to extend his personal point streak to eight games (three goals, seven assists). … MacKinnon has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past six games.