After practice Friday, a day after blowing a 4-1 third-period lead and losing 5-4 to Minnesota on opening night, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said he will stick with the same 20-man lineup Saturday against Dallas — including goalie Semyon Varlamov starting in net.
of the third period in what he described as a nightmare. None of the Wild’s goals came off deflections or strange bounces. They each beat Varlamov cleanly.
On Friday, Roy said Varlamov was not to blame.
“It’s an opportunity for a goalie to close the door. Yes. But we need to help him,” Roy said. “We didn’t help him in that third period. If you look at the goals that they scored, they were not easy saves. We need to be better, limit the turnovers in the neutral zone and not allow them to get in the slot area. If they score from the outside, it would be different.”
The Avalanche practiced Friday at the Pepsi Center, in front of season-ticket holders who got the first public glimpse of the team’s third-jersey attire — which includes navy helmets and breezers (pants).
Colorado will make its debut in the third jerseys Oct. 24. against Columbus.
Mike Chambers: mchambers@denverpost.com or @mikechambers
