RALEIGH, N.C. — On Friday night at the PNC Center, the situations were 180-degree extremes.
The Avalanche was playing its fifth game, in five different arenas, in seven days.
The Carolina Hurricanes were coming off their five-day NHL bye and hadn’t played since Feb. 11.
Yet the Avalanche snapped its overall losing streak at five games and avoided going winless on the trip when Mikko Rantanen scored with 36.4 seconds remaining in overtime to give Colorado a 2-1 victory over the well-rested Hurricanes.
As the OT wound down, Matt Duchene stole the puck and then on the 2-on-1 rush, his pass across the slot set up Rantanen for the one-timer that beat Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward.
“It was a great pass by Dutchy,” said Rantanen. “He sold the shot and I don’t think their goalie was expecting to see a pass. It’s a good way to end the road trip, but we more often should play like this.”
Duchene said of the setup pass: “He was open. I’m on my left side there and if he’s above, it’s an open net. With a lefty (like Rantanen), it’s a one-timer. You have to know who you’re with and I know he likes to one-time pucks from the top of the circle on opportunities like that.”
Calvin Pickard finished with 28 saves in the Colorado net.
After Tyson Barrie scored for the Avs at 13:48 of the first and Jeff Skinner tied it up for the Hurricanes with only 49 seconds left in the period, it remained 1-1 going into the third … and overtime.
Colorado (16-38-2) finally is back on home ice Sunday, facing the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Pepsi Center.
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