Dallas – Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj got his first post-Olympic start Saturday night in a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, and was far from thrilled with the way it unfolded. The young Slovak, who played well in Turin, stopped 26-of-31 Dallas shots, but probably only could have been faulted on the Stars’ second goal – a Philippe Boucher one-timer on the power play at 15:25 of the first period.
“They had a lot of shots at the net on screens and deflections,” Colorado coach Joel Quenneville said. “They were making those quick plays out in front of the net – bang, bang – where you have to be sharp. He was all right.”
In three previous starts against Dallas this season, Budaj had allowed two goals in each game – winning one in regulation, and losing twice in shootouts.
The Stars had three power-play goals against Budaj, and Dallas had come into the night with only one success in its previous 17 times with the manpower advantage.
“It’s been a roller-coaster situation with us,” said Dallas captain Mike Modano, who had two goals and an assist. “But if we continue to do the things we do, the puck will find its way through.”
May sits
Brad May took 12 stitches to a finger he cut in a fight Thursday against Columbus and sat out Saturday’s game. He most likely will miss tonight’s game at Minnesota as well.
With May out, defenseman- by-trade Bob Boughner was back in the lineup and played on the fourth line with Dan Hinote and Brad Richardson.
