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DENVER (AP) — Shane Prince had two goals and an assist for his first NHL points, and the Ottawa Senators held on to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 Wednesday night.
Zack Smith, Kyle Turris and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, which has won four straight.
Craig Anderson made 20 of his 40 saves in the third period when the Avalanche tried to overcome a three-goal deficit. The Senators have a chance to sweep their three-game Western Conference trip with a win at Arizona on Saturday.
Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist, and Chris Wagner scored his first NHL goal for Colorado.
The Avalanche were down 4-1 entering the third but rallied to get close. Landeskog and MacKinnon scored 1:36 apart to make it a one-goal game. Reto Berra came off for an extra skater with 2:03 left, but Zibanejad scored into the empty net.
Prince gave the Senators a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. His backhander from the right circle trickled through Semyon Varlamov's pads and just over the line at 5:54. Prince also tipped in Smith's centering pass at 9:01.
Wagner, who was claimed off waivers from Anaheim on Nov. 15 and made his Avalanche debut two days later, answered just 1:35 later when he backhanded a loose puck past Anderson to cut the lead to 2-1.
Turris restored the two-goal lead with his team-leading 10th of the season 1:48 into the second period. Berra came on for Varlamov, who allowed three goals on 15 shots.
Berra stopped the first nine shots he faced, but Smith made it 4-1 with his fifth goal of the season at 18:13 of the second. Berra finished with 12 saves.
NOTES: Colorado C Matt Duchene had his seven-game point streak stopped. ... Avalanche C John Mitchell missed his fifth straight game with an oblique strain. He has missed eight games total with the injury. ... Ottawa D Patrick Wiercioch was out for the third straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Avalanche RW Alex Tanguay (knee) has started skating but is still several weeks from returning.
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This story has been corrected with Anderson's save totals in third period and overall.
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