DENVER – Valeri Nichushkin scored the only goal in a five-round shootout and also Colorado’s only goal in regulation as the Avalanche defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves in overtime and five more in the shootout as Colorado won for the seventh time in nine games.

Pavel Dorofeyev gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 13:09 of the second period, but Nichushkin tied it 33 seconds later with an unassisted goal.

Adin Hill made 33 saves and three more in the shootout until Nichushkin beat him and ended the game.

Neither team was denied a penalty until Cale Makar suffered a minor interference at 3:37 of the third period.

Takeaways

Golden Knights: Returning home after a five-game, season-long road trip with a winning record. Vegas lost the first game in Toronto 3-0, but then won the next three games before losing to Colorado.

Avalanche: Injuries continue to be a factor this season. Winger Jonathan Drouin is suffering from an upper body injury “week to week”. He missed 16 consecutive games due to a similar injury sustained on opening night. Chase Bradley was recalled and made his NHL debut.

Key moment

With the Avalanche about to go on the power play, Hill parried Nichushkin’s point-blank shot with 7.5 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Key statistics

Vegas had 10 shots on goal in the first period, but only nine for the remainder of regulation time and overtime, and none in overtime.

Next

The Golden Knights return home to play Winnipeg on Friday night, while the Avalanche travel to Dallas for their first straight game on Friday night.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL