DENVER – Valeri Nichushkin scored the only goal in a five-round shootout and also scored 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 another five 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 the score 33 seconds later with an unassisted goal.

Adin Hill made 33 saves and three more in the shootout until Nichushkin beat him to end the match.

Neither team was called for a penalty until Cale Makar took an interference minor at 3:37 of the third period.

Takeaways

Golden Knights: Return home after a season-long, five-game road trip with a winning record. Vegas lost the first game 3-0 in Toronto, but then won the next three for the lsso against Colorado.

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

Key moment

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

Key stat

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

Next

The Golden Knights return home to play Winnipeg on Friday night, while the Avalanche travel to Dallas on Friday night for the first game of a back-to-back.

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