Iginla has 2 goals, Varlamov stops 36 shots as Avalanche beat Senators 5-2

Colorado Avalanche right wing Jarome Iginla, center, celebrates his goal with left wing Alex Tanguay, left, and defenseman jan Hejda, of the Czech Republic, against the Ottawa Senators during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (The Associated Press)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nate Guenin, left, fights for control of the puck in the corner with Ottawa Senators center Kyle Turris during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (The Associated Press)

DENVER – Jarome Iginla scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Thursday night.

Semyon Varlamov followed up his 54-save shutout at Chicago with 36 saves for the Avalanche, who have won four of five. Erik Johnson, Brad Stuart and Daniel Briere also had goals for Colorado.

Iginla got the Avalanche on the board first with his 11th goal of the season. He took a pass from Alex Tanguay down low, circled around and beat Craig Anderson with a wrister at 8:20 of the first period.

His goal just 23 seconds into the third period made it a 4-1 game. It was Iginla's 572nd career goal and moved him within one of Mike Bossy for 20th on the NHL's career list.

The Senators, who have lost three in a row, could never catch up to Colorado.

Stuart gave Colorado a 2-0 lead later in the first. Matt Duchene won a draw in the Ottawa zone and the puck came back to Stuart, whose slap shot went through traffic for his first goal in the last 65 games. Stuart had not scored since Dec. 3, 2013, when he was playing with San Jose.

The Senators cut the lead to 2-1 on Mark Stone's 10th goal at 3:03 of the second. It was the first goal allowed by Varlamov in 84:04 of playing time.

Ottawa's celebration was short-lived. Johnson beat Anderson with a shot from the point for his career-best 11th goal of the season.

Anderson, who allowed three goals on nine shots, gave way to Robin Lehner, who finished with 10 saves.

Bobby Ryan's 12th goal of the season made it 4-2 just 42 seconds after Iginla's second tally, but Briere scored less than two minutes later to restore the three-goal lead.

NOTES: Senators D Marc Methot returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with a back injury. Defenseman Chris Phillips was scratched. ... Tanguay had two assists to reach 800 career points. ... Ottawa C Curtis Lazar was given the night off. Lazar led Team Canada to the gold medal at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championships. ... Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly had two assists.