By Rick Sadowski | NHL.com Correspondent
DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Coyotes, 3-2, on Thursday night at the Pepsi Center for their ninth victory in the past 10 games on home ice.

Avs rookie Gabriel Landeskog scored the game-winning goal at 9:10 of the third period (see KEY MOMENT below).

The Coyotes have played seven consecutive one-goal games and are just 2-4-1 in those games.

"It's frustrating," Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said. "We've played a lot of tight hockey games and we can't find a way to get on top of them."

The Avalanche (20-18-1) dominated play for two periods and enjoyed a 27-12 advantage in shots, but the score was tied 2-2 heading to the third period.

Coyotes forward Mikkel Boedker scored his second goal of the game at 17:39 of the second period after an Avalanche turnover. Boedker beat goalie Semyon Varlamov with a shot from high in the right circle for his sixth goal of the season.

The Coyotes (18-16-4) had a chance to take the lead with 28.2 seconds left in the period when Oliver Ekman-Larsson was pulled down by Daniel Winnik and awarded a penalty shot. But Varlamov, who has stopped 14 of 16 shots while posting a 5-0 record in shootouts this season, held his ground and forced Ekman-Larsson to shoot wide of the left post.

The Avalanche sandwiched goals by Kevin Porter and Stefan Elliott around Boedker’s first goal to grab a 2-1 lead in the first period.

Photo by Getty Images.

Porter scored shortly after exiting the penalty box after serving an Avalanche penalty for having too many men on the ice. He drove to the net on a two-on-one rush with Paul Stastny and redirected Stastny’s pass behind Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera at 7:44 for his second goal in two games and third of the season.

The Coyotes answered at 12:31 when Boedker beat Varlamov with a shot from the right circle through traffic.

Elliott put the Avalanche in front at 15:28 with a shot from above the circles after taking a pass from TJ Galiardi.

The Avalanche lost left wing Matt Duchene to a right knee injury early in the first period. Duchene, on his third shift, went to throw a check and his knee seemed to lock – no diagnosis was available immediately after the game.

► EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Vest of phoenixcoyotes.com edited this story and compiled this recap.

Kobasew

With the score tied 2-2, Avalanche forward Chuck Kobasew, who missed the previous eight games with a head injury, outworked Coyotes defenseman Adrian Aucoin along the boards and floated a pass to rookie Gabriel Landeskog, who beat LaBarbera with a quick shot on the short side with 10:50 left in the third period.

"Chucky did a great job of staying with that puck," Landeskog said. "He kind of fed me, and I got some room there, I tried to get it low on net and was able to sneak it in five-hole."

► Click here to watch the KEY MOMENT.

Photo by Getty Images.

• After not scoring a goal in 12 consecutive games, forward Mikkel Boedker scored two goals in just 10:41 of ice time. It was the second two-goal game of his NHL career - his first was on Nov. 8, 2008 vs. Florida.

• Forwards Kyle Chipchura and Taylor Pyatt each assisted on both of Mikkel Boedker's goals. For Chipchura, it was his first multi-point game as a member of the Coyotes. For Pyatt, it was his second multi-point game of the season, and his first assist ended a string of 10 consecutive games without a point.

• Defenseman Adrian Aucoin returned to the lineup after missing five games because of a lower-body injury. Aucoin played 17:42 and delivered four hits.

Schlemko

• Defenseman David Schlemko played 21:22, blocked three shots and took a shot on goal in his 100th NHL game.

• With 1:38 left in the second period, Coyotes forward Raffi Torres checked Colorado defenseman Jan Heda hard. The hit left Heda down on the ice for a few minutes before he skated off with help from the Avalanche's trainer. No penalty was called on the play, and Heda returned to the game in the third period.

• The Coyotes played minus starting goalie Mike Smith (lower-body injury), and centers Martin Hanzal (upper-body injury) and Boyd Gordon (lower-body injury). All three players are on the injured reserve list.

• The Coyotes scratched Paul Bissonnette, Derek Morris and David Rundblad.

• The Coyotes' next game is Saturday vs. the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center. The puck drops at 4 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona Plus and can be heard on XTRA Sports 910 (AM).

"We've got some players out with injuries right now and we have some guys that have to step up, including myself. We have to play a little harder and a little smarter, and right now we are not doing that." "It's when you do (bad) stuff early on in the game that causes problems and cost you late. Instead of being down one or tied, you should be up one. We're just not doing enough little things right right now and are making mistakes that cost us."  "It's tough to play without facing a lot of shots. I only faced 12 shots the first two periods and it is hard to have confidence when you don’t have shots. They played very hard in the third and I thought we played pretty well defensively. The guys helped me a lot by clearing away rebounds.” Boedker Doan Varlamov