Associated Press
DENVER - Jason LaBarbera made 34 saves for his second shutout of the season and Taylor Pyatt scored twice as the Coyotes beat the Colorado Avalanche, 2-0, on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center.

LaBarbera clamped down on the NHL's fourth-highest scoring team for his second shutout in three starts. He blanked the Dallas Stars on Dec. 26, turning back 30 shots.

Colorado pulled goalie Craig Anderson with just over a minute remaining, leading to Pyatt's empty-net goal with 19.2 seconds left to seal the win.

LaBarbera was stingy throughout, especially in the final minutes when he pushed aside a shot from Philippe Dupuis and another drive from the blue line.

He also was bailed out by his teammates during a mad scramble in front late in the game when defenseman Derek Morris finally reached into the scrum and knocked the puck into the corner.

Photo by Getty Images.

Anderson and LaBarbera traded big saves in a scoreless second period.

Scottie Upshall nearly put the puck in as he came around the net and fired a shot on Anderson, who knocked it down and quickly pounced on the puck.

LaBarbera thwarted two chances early in the period. He stopped Milan Hejduk's shot as he broke in from the side, and then deflected a point-blank attempt from Matt Duchene.

The Avalanche had the only power play through two periods, but came up empty. That's been a recent trend for Colorado, 3 for 28 with a man advantage over the last eight games.

► EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Vest of phoenixcoyotes.com contributed to this recap.

Coyotes forward Taylor Pyatt made the score 1-0 when he sent a backhander off a rebound over Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson's glove midway through the first period. The goal was Pyatt's first since his return late last month from an upper-body injury, which sidelined him for four games.

► Click here to watch the KEY MOMENT.

• The Coyotes have won back-to-back games for the first time since winning games played Nov. 21 and 23.

• Forward Taylor Pyatt has notched three two-goal games this season. All three of those games were played against Northwest Division teams.

Doan

• Captain Shane Doan has chipped in at least one point in eight consecutive games and has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in that span.

• Enforcer Paul Bissonnette played just 7:25, but he led all players with four hits.

• Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov missed the game because of a medical situation involving a family member in the Valley. Bryzgalov is expected to rejoin the team at Friday's practice at Jobing.com Arena. 

• Center Kyle Turris, who suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday's 4-2 win over Columbus, did not play.

• Phoenix upped its record to 7-1-1 vs. teams in the Northwest Division.

• The Coyotes scratched Ilya Bryzgalov, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Kyle Turris. 

• The Coyotes' next game is Saturday vs. Buffalo at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 6 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona Plus and can be heard on KFNN-AM (1510).

"We did a real good job of not giving up a whole lot on the rush. There’s a lot of skill there and they like to create a lot off the rush. We did a good job not turning pucks over. Our forwards did a good job backchecking and the "D" did a good job of keeping up their gaps. It makes my job that much easier when they do that." "It’s a step in the right direction for us. We’re trying to find some consistency through our game. To win two in a row is good for us. It’s something to build on." "When you give up a goal early in the game you need to rebound from that, but tonight we couldn't do it... We played a really good game. We just didn't generate enough offense tonight. We had a couple close calls but couldn't bury one." LaBarbera Pyatt Anderson