DENVER (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks were refreshed after a nine-day break. The Colorado Avalanche looked like the same team that stumbled into its hiatus.Jake Virtanen and Antoine Roussel each had a goal and an assist as the Canucks raced to an early lead and defeated Colorado 5-1 Saturday night.Brock Boeser Washington Capitals Hoodies Authentic , Nikolay Goldobin and Tyler Motte also scored for the Canucks. Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves as Vancouver moved to 4-1-2 in its last seven games and kicked off a four-game trip on a positive note.The Canucks were disappointed after losing a home game to Carolina before the All-Star break, but erased that quickly against the struggling Avalanche.“Our guys really responded,” Markstrom said. “The way we finished the break, I wasn’t happy and this was a big game we needed to win.”Matt Calvert scored for Colorado, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 21 shots.The Canucks moved two points in front of Colorado in the Western Conference standings. The Avalanche have three wins in their last 20 games.“There’s seven, eight teams for two spots, three spots. It’s tight,” Markstrom said of the playoff race. “You need to win games, especially against a team that’s in that race as well. Points are important.”Colorado broke up its top line to start the game in an effort to generate more offense. But the plan didn’t produce. Nathan MacKinnon moved to center between Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson, and Carl Soderberg was with Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen.MacKinnon was back with his old linemates before the first period ended and the Canucks had grabbed a two-goal lead. Varlamov allowed two goals on Vancouver’s first four shots.“We’ve tried every line combination on the planet in the last two months Washington Capitals Hats Authentic ,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re not getting results.”The trio has combined for 199 points this season and has been the focus of every opponent. Vancouver was able to shut down the top line.“It’s big,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said of keeping the top line scoreless. “I think every team in the league probably talks about it before the game, about the firepower they have with those three guys.”The Canucks got the lead when Virtanen scored 1:32 into the first and Boeser got his 17th at 6:04.“That gave us confidence right from the get-go, and momentum, and we built off it well,” Boeser said of the two quick goals. “I thought we played a good, hard, solid game. We kept it simple out there and I think that’s why we had success tonight.”Roussel’s sixth goal of the season 7:30 into the second period made it 3-0. Colorado got one back on a tip by Calvert at 11:18. Just 3:59 later, Motte redirected a shot past Varlamov to make it 4-1.“Really good effort,” Green said. “Start to finish our guys were ready to play tonight.”Goldobin scored on the power play at 13:59 of the third to complete the scoring.Colorado has lost three straight at home.“We’ve got to find a way to get it going Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys ,” defenseman Erik Johnson said. “It’s going to be too late, too soon, but we certainly believe that we have that right tools in here.”NOTES: Canucks C Markus Granlund was scratched and missed his first game of the season. … Avalanche D Erik Johnson returned to the lineup after sitting out the last two games before the All-Star break with a concussion sustained against Los Angeles on Jan. 21. … Goldobin was in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous four games. … Colorado didn’t have a penalty until the third period.UP NEXT:Vancouver: At Philadelphia on Monday night.Colorado: Hosts Columbus on Tuesday night. GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes were coming off lopsided home-ice losses to Calgary (6-1) and Colorado (5-1) when general manager John Chayka, unable to wait any longer for more offense, went out and traded for forward Nick Schmaltz.One game later, with the Coyotes down 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild going into the third period on the road, goaltender Antti Raanta left with a lower-body injury. With backup Darcy Kuemper already injured, coach Rick Tocchet was forced to insert the team’s AHL goalie, Adin Hill.Remarkably www.officialhockeyjetsshop.com , the Coyotes — on the verge of playing themselves out of contention only 10 days ago — haven’t lost since.Article continues below ...Arizona will take a four-game winning streak, some momentum and some growing confidence into its Thursday night game against the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, who, only a few days ago, had all of the above and more.But the Capitals have lost their last two following a seven-game winning streak and, in a 5-3 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, may have lost top-line right wing Tom Wilson for a while with a head injury. Wilson, arguably the NHL’s most notorious hitter, was leveled by a blindside hit from Vegas forward Ryan Reaves so hard that it knocked Wilson’s helmet off.The Capitals (15-9-3) didn’t practice Thursday in advance of the second game of a three-game road trip, a day off that gave them time to think about all they didn’t like about the loss in Las Vegas. Namely Winnipeg Jets T-Shirts Authentic , losing Wilson and allowing two goals by former Washington defenseman Nate Schmidt in the final two minutes of the game.“Reaves targeted him (Wilson) the entire game,” Capitals coach Todd Rierden said. “You could hear it on every faceoff, you could hear the things that were being said. And it’s a blindside hit where an unsuspecting player hits his head on the ice. So that’s disappointing. You can put two and two together, but he targeted him the entire game.”Washington already is without forward T.J. Oshie, who sustained the fifth concussion of his career against the Winnipeg Jets three weeks ago.Hill, one of the NHL’s unlikeliest success stories this season, will make his fourth consecutive start on Thursday at Gila River Arena. He is 2-0 with an 0.56 goals-against average following the Coyotes’ 2-1 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, when more than a handful of his 25 saves were difficult ones.The Coyotes’ special teams produced both goals. Schmaltz scored his fourth of the season on the power play and forward Lawson Crouse scored the team’s league-leading 11th short-handed goal.But it’s Hill that’s been truly special. And coach Rick Tocchet isn’t about to sit down a goaltender who has made 85 saves on 87 shots.“He’s unflappable right now,” Tocchet said. “He’s feeling it, and it’s a nice story. … He’s come in and he’s put the plug in for us and he’s holding the fort. We’ll just keep going from there.”The Coyotes thought Raanta might be ready by now Winnipeg Jets Hoodies Authentic , but he didn’t practice Wednesday and Tocchet said Hill would start again.“It’s nice to know the staff here in Arizona has confidence in me, and I want to give them no reason not to,” Hill said.Schmaltz, acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, has given the Coyotes’ top line a much different look since Tocchet put him at center between Alex Galchenyuk and Clayton Keller before a 3-0 win at Nashville on Nov. 29. In the three games since, Keller and Schmaltz have two goals and three assists apiece and Galchenyuk has an assist.“They’ve got some chemistry going,” Tocchet said. “And they’re going to get better. There’s another level between those guys.”The Capitals and Coyotes split their two games last season, with each winning in overtime on their home ice. The Coyotes (13-11-2) already have won 13 games; they didn’t win their 13th game last season until Feb. 8.