"We were rusty, I thought, for the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game," said Carlyle.

DENVER -- Semyon Varlamov preferred his play do his talking, and it spoke volumes for the Colorado Avalanche. Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Matt Duchene also scored in the shootout for the Avalanche, who have won three straight -- with the last two thanks in large part to the play of their reticent goaltender. "I hate talking about myself. Ask Patrick," Varlamov said, deferring to coach Patrick Roy. Colorado didnt need much offence with Varlamov in net. After stopping 46 shots in a 3-2 overtime win in Chicago on Tuesday, Varlamov had another strong game against the Devils. He made five saves on a power play early in the third and then made another on Patrik Elias point-blank shot from the slot with about 13 minutes left. The Avalanche nearly took a 2-0 lead on Duchenes wrister moments later, but Schneider made the save. Varlamov had five saves in overtime and then stoned Elias and Adam Henrique in the shootout. "I got a guy lying on his stomach and I couldnt finish it," Elias said. Roy had no problem praising his goalie. "I like the effort we had from our goalie. He made some great saves," Roy said. "We put a lot on our goalie and our goalie has been phenomenal." Cory Schneider stopped 37 shots and Andrei Loktionov scored for the Devils, who had their two-game winning streak stopped. The Devils are 0-8 in shootouts this season, with Schneider losing half of those. New Jersey has lost 12 straight shootouts dating to last season. Schneider couldnt end the drought after keeping his team in the game for the first two periods. "I dont know what it is right now, Im not coming up with the saves in the shootout," he said after his fourth shootout loss of the season. "When youre not getting wins from it and youre leaving points on the table, it matters." The Avalanche played without centre Paul Stastny (leg) and defenceman Cory Sarich (back) for the second straight game. Roy chose to dress just 11 forwards and go with seven defencemen against the Devils. OReilly, double-shifting on the fourth line, opened the scoring at 8:55 of the first. He took a pass from behind the net from Patrick Bordeleau and beat Schneider with a high snap shot from the slot. It was his team-leading 18th of the season. "We ran a cycle play after Malone kept the puck in," OReilly said. "Malone did that and Bordy saw me alone out front and I got the shot off quick." Colorado held a 13-2 shot advantage in the second period and controlled play for most of the first 40 minutes. Things changed in the third when New Jersey found its legs and put 18 shots on Varlamov. "The way we played in the third, it seemed like they couldnt play with us," Elias said. "It was like two different games." The Devils tied it at 1 when Loktionov beat Varlamov with a slap shot from the right circle at 8:59. Colorado had two good chances late in the third, but Schneider made a save on John Mitchell and Nathan MacKinnon shot wide of the net. New Jerseys Steve Bernier nearly scored right after that when his shot skipped through the crease. NOTES: Duchene celebrated his 23rd birthday Thursday. ... The Devils activated Elias and C Jacob Josefson from IR and assigned F Mike Sislo to Albany of the AHL ... Colorado sent G Sami Aittokallio to Lake Erie of the AHL. Aittokallio served as Varlamovs backup while Jean-Sebastien Giguere dealt with back spasms. Kenrich Williams Pelicans Jersey . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. 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When Reid Boucher shot wide in what would be the Devils final attempt on Jonathan Bernier in the third round of the skills competition Sunday, he handed Toronto its eighth victorious decision in the shootout this season – tied for the most in the NHL. In fact, the Leafs have more victories in the shootout since the start of November (six) than they do in regulation/overtime (five), a fact thats masked, until recently, just how poorly the team has performed in the past two-plus months (12-16-5). But for a team that was teetering on a four-game losing streak – the second longest this season – the winning decision at the ACC, in a reality divorced from the game itself, was nonetheless needed and important. "Well, we can breathe," said Randy Carlyle, following the 3-2 victory, the second in two tries against the Devils this season, both wins coming in the shootout. "Theres been a lot of gasping going on, and even in this game there was a lot of gasping going on how tight it was." It was not a pretty performance in many regards – the Leafs were outshot 38-25 and out-attempted 83-48 – but one that at least offered some of the requisite intensity and desire that had been missing amid the recent slide and quite often throughout whats been a disappointing campaign to date. And they might very well have won it in regulation had it not been for a blown call on Tyler Bozaks apparent go-ahead goal in the second frame. "Guys are a little looser tonight already," Mason Raymond told the Leaf Report shortly after the win. "It feels good. It feels good to get a win." "Hopefully this relieves a little bit of the stress thats involved for our hockey club, and they can get back playing to the way were capable of playing," added Carlyle. Consistency has been a foe of his team so far. The Leafs have reeled off exactly one winning streak since October – it lasted three games, two of which were won in shootouts – winning back-to-back games on just two other occasions. Stringing together heartier efforts against the Capitals and Devils in recent days then is just a mild step in the right direction. The teams response in an upcoming back-to-back with the Bruins and Sabres will indicate whether, in fact, a corner is gradually being turned. "I dont think its an exact recipe you can follow," Raymond said of achieving consistency. "Youve got to build off the things, in my opinion, that you did well, stay positive and believe. I think thats a big part of it is just believing that we can get the job done and go out there and get wins." "I think the last few games our compete level and effort has been way better," said van Riemsdyk, who scored for the second straight game, "and I think if we continue to play in that same mold well have some more results that we want." Five Points 1. Gardiners Development Pt. 1 Carlyle labeled 23-year-old Jake Gardiners performance in Washington Friday night as "the model in which wed like him to play. Gardiner, who had been scratched for just the second time all season one night earlier in Carolina, raised his performance in the eyes of the coaching staff against the Capitals. "Much different Jake Gardiner," said Carlyle, observing improved strength and intensity in the defensive zone as well as better decision-making with the puck. Such is the road to development for a young defender in the NHL. Many ups come with many downs. "Jake is a talented young player and there are steps that he has to continue to take," said Carlyle, who met with Gardiner briefly at the end of Sundays morning skate. "With Jake, he has the ability to move the puck both with his hands and with his feet – he can skate. He would like to make more consistent decisions with the puck and so would we. Weve struggled to find a consistent level for him over the last probably five or six games." That inconsistency led Carlyle to scratch Gardiner last week, a questionable move that blew up in a 6-1 loss to the Hurricanes. But if the sit-down was designed to spark a reaction then it may have achieved some success the next night in the U.S. capital. "I think what happens with young players is they find that theyre always trying to do one thing and maybe trying to do too much of one thing and that sometimes turns into where you skate the puck into areas where you shouldnt and turn over the puck," said Carlyle. "But hes a young player that has got a tremendous upside." 2. Gardiners Development Pt. 2 What Carlyle has done additionally, in the meann-time, is remove Gardiner from the teams top two pairings – he and 19-year-old Morgan Rielly formed the third grouping for the second straight game against the Devils – and thus lighten the burden he is exposed to on a night to night basis.dddddddddddd Speaking to the Leaf Report on Sunday morning, Gardiner described his decision-making with the puck as one needed improvement, an issue again at times on Sunday night. "Dont try and force anything," he said. "I think I was trying to make plays that werent there and I was maybe trying to move the puck a little bit too quickly. When theres not an open guy, maybe just be patient and hold onto the puck a little bit." Gardiner, who played over 24 minutes against the Devils, is averaging nearly 22 minutes per game this season, second on the team. 3. Bolland Front Dave Bolland hasnt played since Nov. 2, when his left ankle was sliced by the skate blade of Canucks forward Zack Kassian. The 27-year-old has missed 32 games with the injury, but is due to finally start skating with the team on Thursday. Bolland recently traveled to Montreal in hopes of having a new boot designed specifically to support the injured area. That boot was due to arrive in Toronto on Monday with the Mimico native then expected to skate before joining the Leafs on a four-game road trip next week. An exact timeframe for return remains unclear. 4. Harder to Play Against? Asked before the game if this version of the Maple Leafs was as difficult to play against as the one that ended a lengthy playoff drought last season, Carlyle responded flatly in the negative. "Nowhere near," he said. "Weve been scratching our heads and trying to figure out why." And if there was one element that remained constant from a Friday loss in Washington to Sundays win in Toronto, it was the intensity of his group. The execution may have been lacking at times, but the compete Carlyle has been prodding for remained. "Thats one thing that weve really tried to put at the forefront in the last three weeks to a month is that our compete level has to go to a level where were satisfied," said Carlyle on Sunday morning. "Thats the one thing that weve said is our compete level has to go up." Carlyle pointed to the simple will required to win puck battles. "We have been guilty of just standing around in those situations," he said. "I call it getting inside. I think to be inside in todays NHL is the key because you cant hook and hold, you have to skate your way to get inside. "When we do it we can play effective hockey and give ourselves a chance to win. And when we dont do it were receiving the game, were standing around. I would say thats the biggest mystery for the coaching staff." 5. Stunted Starts Toronto has exited the first frame with a lead in 12 of 47 games this season, trailing, by comparison, on 17 occasions. Substandard starts have been a source of considerable trouble, often requiring the club to dig out from an early hole without much ultimate success. "All year long, weve [had] pretty poor starts," said Gardiner. "We try to dig ourselves out of it and then we start playing well and its too late by that time so if we can play almost desperate and aggressive I think well have better starts and itll lead to a better outcome." The Leafs started slowly again on Sunday – outshot 7-1 in the opening 10 minutes – but rebounded during the back half of the period, finding the games first goal from Tyler Bozak, his seventh this season. "We were rusty, I thought, for the first 10 or 12 minutes of the game," said Carlyle. Stats-Pack 8-4 – Leafs record in the shootout this season. 13 – Points in the past 11 games for Tyler Bozak, who has 19 points in 23 games this season. 8 – Shootout wins for the Leafs this season, tied with the Capitals for the most in the NHL. 1 – Goals in the past 14 games for Nazem Kadri. 24:23 – Ice-time for Jake Gardiner against the Devils, second on the team to Dion Phaneuf. 62% - Leafs success rate on the draw against the Devils. 2 – Consecutive games with a goal for James van Riemsdyk, who had two in the preceding 15 games. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-4 Season: 21.8% (5th) PK: 3-4 Season: 77.4% (27th) Quote of the Night "I asked him if he could watch it after the game and maybe next time he has a game [with us] he can apologize or something because that was pretty brutal." - James van Riemsdyk, on his conversation with an official following Tyler Bozaks waved off goal in the second period. Up Next The Leafs visit the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night. ' ' '