Dallas – The Avalanche’s final preseason game may have been just another exhibition. But Colorado played with an intensity that coach Joel Quenneville was hoping the team would capture before the season’s start.
Pierre Turgeon scored two goals and Joe Sakic garnered two assists as the Avalanche wrapped up the exhibition season with a 4-3 victory over the Stars at American Airlines Center. It was a fast and furious preseason end for the Avs, who made the most of opportunities despite being outshot 29-17.
“We had good puck position, good energy,” Quenneville said. “We got a little momentum, a little enthusiasm going into (the regular season), which was our objective at the beginning of camp.”
One reason for the optimism was the Avs’ continued strong penalty killing. The Avs forced the Stars to go 0-for-10 on their power plays, and Colorado ended the preseason with 28 consecutive penalty kills.
“I thought our penalty kill throughout the exhibition was outstanding, and our goaltending complemented it very well,” Quenneville said. “During the season (teams) will have their five best players on the power play, so it’s going to be a tougher challenge. But we like what we’ve got.”
The Avs’ own power play, however, worked sufficiently. Turgeon’s first was a power-play goal, as was Jason Krog’s effort late in the second period.
Turgeon, making his first trip to Dallas since the Stars released him in August, said the game had a regular-season feel to it.
“The intensity was pretty good,” Turgeon said. “The (Stars) are a good team, a hard-working team, and our side, we moved things well.”
The Avs almost scored early in the first with Brad May, who knocked in a rebound shot. But May had rolled over Stars goalie Marty Turco seconds before, and May instead went to the penalty box for goalie interference. Dallas had its own moment minutes later when Bill Guerin’s shot flew up near the crossbar. It was enough for the horn to sound, but the puck never crossed the line.
Colorado 1 3 0 – 4
Dallas 0 2 1 – 3
First period – 1, Colorado, Turgeon 3 (Sakic, Brunette), 17:10 (pp).
Second period – 2, Dallas, Kapanen 1 (Robidas), 2:12. 3, Dallas, Robidas 2 (Kapanen, Guerin), 8:37. 4, Colorado, Brunette 2 (Sakic), 9:05. 5, Colorado, Turgeon 3 (Wolski), 9:52. 6, Colorado, Krog 1 (Laperriere, Sakic), 15:40 (pp).
Third period – 7, Dallas, Jokinen 5 (Modano, Robidas), 17:06.
Shots on goal – Colorado 7-8-2-17. Dallas 11-9-9-29.
Goalies – Colorado, Aebischer. Dallas, Turco, Hedberg. A – 17,192.
