DENVER, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Cory Schneider, making his first start in almost two weeks, took a shutout deep into the third period Thursday in leading Vancouver to a 3-1 win over Colorado.
The Canucks won their fifth straight game, two of those victories coming over the Avalanche.
Schneider is in his third season with Vancouver and again has seen only limited action behind Roberto Luongo. The start Thursday was just the 14th of his career and he came close to recording his first shutout.
Colorado could not score until David Van der Gulik put a backhander past Schneider with 3:08 remaining.
Vancouver scored in the opening stages of each period, all three goals coming on the power play.
Ryan Kesler tallied 3:14 into the first, Henrik Sedin 3:33 into the second and Raffi Torres 4:03 into the third.
Peter Budaj allowed three goals on 36 shots for Colorado, which had won its previous two games.
