Varlamov makes 42 saves, Avalanche top Stars

DALLAS -- Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves, Gabriel Landeskog scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Saturday at American Airlines Center.
"He's our best player," Landeskog said of Varlamov. "He certainly played like it tonight. He kind of gives off that calm aura around him that nothing really fazes him. It doesn't matter how many shots he faced. He played well and I think our defense did a great job."

Landeskog broke a 1-1 tie when he scored a shorthanded goal, beating Stars goaltender Antti Niemi over his blocker after defenseman John Klingberg was unable to corral a carom off the boards near the Dallas blue line.
"I just managed to poke it by Klingberg there at the blue line and realized I was on my own," Landeskog said. "I kind of had my mind made up already what I was doing coming in on [Niemi]."
Carl Soderberg had a first-period shorthanded goal, and Mikhail Grigorenko scored with 5:51 left in the third period for Colorado (26-21-3), which won its fourth straight game overall and eighth in a row against Dallas.
"We scored two shorthanded goals. It was a momentum-changer in my opinion. It's one of the better power plays in our League. It could have given them some momentum and give them the win easily because they're capable of scoring a lot of goals on their power play," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "It's a good win for us."
Niemi made 12 saves for Dallas (30-14-5), which got a power-play goal from defenseman Jason Demers at 7:24 of the second period. The Stars had 106 shot attempts; Colorado blocked 32 and 31 others missed the net.
Dallas was 1-for-5 on the power play; the Stars are 4-for-33 (12.1 percent) in their past 12 games.
"That first [power-play] unit, we may have to shake it up," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's gotten a little bit stale. It's gotten a little bit slow, not real quick on the entries and not generating enough opportunities."
Dallas, which outshot Colorado 43-15, had the better of play in the first period. But Colorado skated off with a 1-0 lead after Soderberg scored his shorthanded goal with 53 seconds remaining. After Dallas center Jason Spezza couldn't control the puck near his own blue line, Soderberg gained possession, evaded Jamie Benn along the boards and roofed a wrist shot to beat Niemi inside the far post.
The goal came 37 seconds after Colorado defenseman Nick Holden was called for hooking.
"You look at the shorthanded goals, there's always some risk involved when you're playing four forwards. I take that risk and that risk in on me because I just feel that's the best opportunity for us," Ruff said.
The Stars tied it on Demers' power-play goal. Varlamov stopped Ales Hemsky's shot from the left point and Antoine Roussel's attempt to poke in the rebound at the near post, but Demers was able to knock in the second rebound.
"Right before I put it in, [Soderberg] kind of high-sticked me, just tried to get under my stick, and just knocked one of my teeth," Demers said. "It's a temporary tooth anyway. It's a cap, but it didn't feel too good. It's part of the game and it happens. I'm sure he was just trying to get under my stick."
Colorado regained the lead at 10:12 when Landeskog took a wrist shot from the slot that went over Niemi's blocker for his 11th goal of the season.
"I think we almost died after the second period. We took too many penalties and then they were all over us. Thank God that we scored," Varlamov said.
Klingberg took full responsibility for Landeskog's goal.
"I think it's a tough play. I have to keep the puck in the zone," Klingberg said. "It hits my shoulder and obviously they got a breakaway on it."
Varlamov made 33 saves Friday In a 2-1 shootout win against the St. Louis Blues at Pepsi Center, giving him 75 in the back-to-back wins.
"I'm pretty tired after back-to-back games. Those were very intense games for us. We played last night. We came here in Dallas late. That was a short night. Today was a tough game also," Varlamov said.
Colorado continues its three-game road trip Tuesday at the San Jose Sharks. Dallas concludes its three-game homestand Monday against the Calgary Flames.
"Just want to continue [playing well], there's a lot of hockey to be played," Roy said. "We have two games before the All-Star Game and they'll be important games for us."