Power Play Pays Off for Colorado

Colorado ended a power-play drought with two goals in six tries in a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at Denver.

It was the Avalanche’s final home game before the two-week break for the Olympics.

“The stars must have been aligned right,” defenseman Rob Blake said.

The Avalanche was 0 for 15 on the power play in losses against Detroit and Nashville. The stretch was disheartening for a team that had at least one power-play goal in its previous eight games and is ranked fifth in the NHL in the category.

But the Avalanche converted on its second attempt Tuesday, when Milan Hejduk scored at 2:43 of the second period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. Brett McLean added the second at 7:54 of the third period to make it 5-2.

Chicago 3, Phoenix 1 -- Radim Vrbata and Martin Lapointe scored 1:24 apart in the second period to help the Blackhawks win at Glendale, Ariz.

At the request of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Coyote assistant Rick Tocchet did not attend the game because of a gambling investigation.

New Jersey 7, Tampa Bay 4 -- Jamie Langenbrunner scored two goals at East Rutherford, N.J., to help the Devils tie the Lightning for sixth place in the Eastern Conference at 64 points.

Buffalo 3, Montreal 2 -- Maxim Afinogenov scored his second power-play goal of the game on a two-man advantage 30 seconds into overtime at Montreal to give the Sabres their sixth straight win.

Florida 5, Washington 0 -- Jon Sim had three goals and an assist and Roberto Luongo made 44 saves at Washington for his fourth shutout of the season.

Toronto 4, Atlanta 1 -- Alex Ponikarovsky, Darcy Tucker, Kyle Wellwood and Bryan McCabe scored at Toronto as the Maple Leafs beat the Thrashers for the seventh straight time.

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San Jose signed Jonathan Cheechoo to a five-year extension and goalie Evgeni Nabokov to a four-year extension, keeping both from becoming free agents at the end of the season.