Avalanche Shakes Off Slow Start in 6-5 Win

Not even a disastrous first period could slow down the Colorado Avalanche.

After spotting Florida a three-goal lead Wednesday night, the Avalanche rallied for a 6-5 victory when Alex Tanguay completed a hat trick with 5:41 left at Sunrise, Fla.

“We sure could have made it easier on ourselves by starting off better,” Tanguay said. “We were lucky we were just down 3-0 because it could have been worse.”

Milan Hejduk, Joe Sakic and Andrei Nikolishin also scored for Colorado, which had to rally again after Florida took a 4-3 lead.

“Even when we were 3-0 down, we were not out,” Hejduk said. “We can score some goals.”

Colorado is tied with Toronto for the most points in the NHL (63). The Avalanche is 10-1-0-1 in its last 12 games.

Stephen Weiss and Valeri Bure each had a goal and two assists, and Juraj Kolnik, Pavel Trnka and Marcus Nilson also scored for the Panthers, who lost for the seventh time in games they had led by at least two goals.

Colorado backup Philippe Sauve stopped 24 shots and is 5-0-1 in six starts. Roberto Luongo made 23 saves for the Panthers before being replaced late in the third period by Steve Shields.

San Jose 4, Phoenix 2 -- Vesa Toskala made 26 saves and held an opponent to fewer than three goals for the 14th time in 16 games to lead the Sharks at Glendale, Ariz.

Nils Ekman had a goal and an assist, and Scott Hannan, Jonathan Cheechoo and Alexander Korolyuk also scored. San Jose is 12-2-1-1 since Dec. 18.

Minnesota 4, Chicago 2 -- Jim Dowd put in the rebound of his own slap shot to break a tie with 15.5 seconds left and lift the Wild at St. Paul, Minn.

Chicago, which last won away from home Nov. 7, tied a 50-year-old franchise record with 16 road games without a victory (0-15-0-1).

Toronto 3, Washington 2 -- Alexei Ponikarovsky, who has scored four of his seven NHL goals against Olaf Kolzig, beat the goaltender twice in the third period to give the Maple Leafs the victory at Washington.

Ponikarovsky scored his first NHL goal against Kolzig and the Capitals on Feb. 1, 2001. He has scored four goals this season, including three against Washington.

Columbus 3, St. Louis 1 -- Manny Malhotra scored two third-period goals to lead the Blue Jackets at Columbus, Ohio. Malhotra has scored seven goals this season, one fewer than his career best.

Carolina 2, New Jersey 1 -- Jeff O’Neill scored his fifth goal in four games late in the second period to lift the Hurricanes at East Rutherford, N.J.

Kevin Weekes made 20 saves as the Hurricanes ended a two-game losing streak and won for only the second time in seven games (2-4-1).

Vancouver 5, Tampa Bay 4 -- Markus Naslund scored his second goal with 20.5 seconds left in overtime and the Canucks rallied twice to win at Vancouver, Canada.

The Canucks fell behind 3-1 and 4-3 but ended a seven-game winless streak at home.

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Maple Leaf forward Darcy Tucker underwent left eye surgery and will be out indefinitely. He was hit in the face by New York Islander forward Jason Blake’s stick during the second period of Toronto’s 2-0 victory Tuesday night.... Nashville center Rem Murray will be out indefinitely until doctors find the right medication to treat muscle cramps in his neck.... Boston Bruin center Joe Thornton will have surgery today on his fractured left cheekbone and is expected to sit out at least one more game.