Dallas – The first Avalanche victory of the season Saturday night was a weird one.
The Avs got bad breaks – one fluky goal against and another in which Rob Blake shot the puck into his own net – and, ultimately, one big, lucky break that helped win it.
Capitalizing on a rare seven-minute power play that started with 6 minutes, 48 seconds left in regulation, the Avalanche got the winning goal from rookie Marek Svatos with 1:57 left for a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
Putting home a wrist shot from close in against Stars goalie Marty Turco, Svatos scored his second game-winner in as many games in Dallas. The previous one was nearly 18 months ago, when he beat Turco in overtime of Game 4 of a Western Conference playoff series.
“Yeah, I guess I have great memories here,” said Svatos, playing his first game of the season. “Tonight, I drove the net together with Steve Konowalchuk and (Pierre) Turgeon shot the puck, and I got the rebound and it went in.”
Rookie goalie Peter Budaj made 18 saves to get the victory in his first career game for Colorado, overcoming a soft, second-period goal to Jere Lehtinen and the Blake miscue that tied the game 2-2 with 8:17 left.
“I’m very happy, and I hope my dad was listening at home (in Slovakia),” Budaj said. “Obviously, this is something I was dreaming about as a little kid, to play in the NHL and get the first win in my first start. I’m thankful, I have a great team in front of me and a great organization.”
The Avs can partially thank Dallas veteran Jason Arnott for losing his temper. Shortly after Blake accidentally shot the puck into his net, Avs winger Dan Hinote checked Arnott into the boards, with Arnott sustaining a cut to the face after he hit a seam in the glass. Arnott immediately went after Hinote, wildly throwing punches. It cost his team big, as Arnott was assessed an instigator penalty, along with a fighting major and game-misconduct – putting the Avs on the power play for seven minutes.
The major penalty meant even after Svatos scored, the Avs stayed on the power play the rest of the way. Stars coach Dave Tippett did not criticize the calls on Arnott, saying Hinote’s check was clean.
“I didn’t know what happened, and I turned around and felt a couple hands on me and away they went,” Hinote said.
After another slow first period, the Avalanche played superb hockey in the final two, outshooting Dallas 27-12. The Avs might have won by a bigger margin if not for some quality saves by Turco. Lehtinen’s knuckling shot from near the blue line gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 52 seconds of the second period, but Turgeon and Joe Sakic responded to put Colorado up 2-1 entering the third.
For Turgeon, it was a happy return to the city he played with for three years.
“It’s a good feeling to get that first win,” said Turgeon, whose goal was his 496th. (He has three points in two games.) “Now, hopefully we can go home to Denver and have a good start (Monday night).”
In getting the first victory as the Avs head coach, Joel Quenneville praised his team’s tenacity around the puck in the final two periods.
“I thought the energy with which we played tonight was the way we have to play going forward,” Quenneville said.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.