PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Garbutt's goal broke a tie in the third period and sent the Anaheim Ducks to their first win of the season, 3-2 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

The Ducks opened 0-3-1 and had failed to score more than two goals in any of those games. Chris Wagner and Corey Perry also scored to help the Ducks spoil Philadelphia's home opener.

Korbinian Holzer's angled pass from behind the net led to Garbutt's one-timer that stunned Steve Mason for the winner.

Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read scored for the Flyers. The Flyers have lost all three games since winning on opening night and dropped to 27-16-6 lifetime in home openers.

John Gibson stopped 20 shots for the Ducks.

The Flyers opened their 50th anniversary celebration with a tribute to their founder and owner Ed Snider, who died of cancer in April. The Flyers raised a banner to the rafters with his name, team crest and 1967-2016 (years owned) on the memento. Snider's banner was sandwiched between the one celebrating the 1975 Stanley Cup championship and one for Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke. Clarke - widely considered the greatest Flyer.

Members of Snider's family walked a black carpet and helped raise the banner that joined the same row that included ones for two Stanley Cup championships and five retired numbers.

Snider was arguably the most influential executive in Philadelphia sports history. He was chairman of the 76ers basketball team, was once a part-owner of the Eagles football team, and had a hand in founding Comcast's local sports channel and the city's largest sports-talk radio station.

''Ed Snider will forever be a part of the Philadelphia Flyers,'' announcer Lou Nolan told the crowd.

Snider received the loudest ovation during a memorial tribute to some of the franchise's greatest names. Pelle Lindbergh, Barry Ashbee, Roger Neilson, and ''God Bless America'' singer Kate Smith all were included. The video included a clip of the late voice of the Flyers Gene Hart saying his Philly famous phrase, ''Good night and good hockey.''

Nolan had scolded fans during last season's playoffs when they hurled promotional bracelets on the ice during a lopsided loss. He had urged fans to ''show some class'' during the first wave of band tossing. The Flyers issued a similar warning before the opener when they tried another bracelet giveaway as the attraction of a glitzy pregame show. The fans heeded the warning this time and keep the bracelets on their wrists instead of on the ice.

On opening night, it still didn't take much to anger Flyers fans.

Wagner scored the only goal of the first and the Flyers failed to convert on late power plays that let them get booed off the ice headed into intermission.

Simmonds scored his third goal of the season and Read followed with his surprising fourth in the second to lift the Flyers to a 2-1 lead. Simmonds' goal came on the power play but the Flyers missed on six other attempts through two periods.

''We have to do a better job 5-on-5. We turned the puck over too much in the neutral zone,'' Simmonds said. ''Obviously, we got power a power play goal but five-on-five is where it starts.''

Perry tied the game 2-all with 3:18 left in the second to match anemic Anaheim's highest goal total for a game this season.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

PITTSBURGH - Evgeni Malkin, Scott Wilson and Patric Hornqvist scored during a furious third-period rally to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

The Penguins trailed by two goals after two largely lifeless periods in a rematch of last June's Stanley Cup Final before catching fire late. Hornqvist and Malkin both finished with a goal and an assist. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32 shots and bought the Penguins time until the offense finally got going.

Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, who controlled the first 40 minutes and appeared well on their way to a one-sided victory before falling apart late. Martin Jones made 17 saves but saw the play in front of him break down in the third.

The Penguins captured the franchise's fourth Stanley Cup in an entertaining final last June, finishing off the Sharks in Game 6 in San Jose. If the Sharks wanted a glimpse at just how close they came to their first title, they need only look toward the rafters at PPG Paints Arena during warmups to get a look at the banner the Penguins raised last week.

San Jose insisted Thursday had nothing to do with revenge or any sense of payback. Last June is gone. For now the Sharks are still trying to find an identity even with nearly the same roster back for another run.

They're off to a hot start and certainly looked fresh playing for the third time in four days on the road. Not so much Pittsburgh, which struggled to generate much of anything in a shutout loss in Montreal on Tuesday and did little to get to Jones during the first two periods on Thursday with captain Sidney Crosby (concussion) and defenseman Kris Letang (upper body) out of the lineup.

San Jose tilted the ice for long stretches, working extensively in the Pittsburgh zone while the Penguins went through several lengthy droughts in which they failed to put the puck anywhere near Jones.

The Sharks eventually took a 1-0 lead 5:04 into the second thanks to a strange sequence in which Fleury lost control of his stick when a shot from Burns smacked off the handle. The puck was briefly cleared but as Fleury tried to chase the stick down, the Sharks rushed back into the zone and Hertl eventually jammed a rebound off a shot by Joe Pavelski past the stickless goaltender.

San Jose's lead doubled shortly after Hornqvist's goal was overturned, stripping Chris Kunitz to create a 2-on-1 that ended with him taking a pass from Logan Couture and burying it by Fleury with 3:45 left in the second.

Things changed quickly. Malkin's second of the year - a shot from in between the circles 6:47 into the third got Pittsburgh started. Wilson tied it 2:15 later when he collected the puck from the corner and darted to the net before slipping a backhand by Jones.

Hornqvist completed the comeback 14:02 into the third by slamming a rebound by Jones on the power play to give the Penguins an unlikely lead.

NOTES: Pittsburgh played the third period with just four defensemen after Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot left with injuries. ... Crosby did not skate Thursday, a scheduled day off. ... The Penguins also scratched Conor Sheary (eye). ... San Jose scratched Fs Michael Haley and Ryan Carpenter and D Dylan Demelo. ... The Penguins went 1 for 5 on the power play. The Sharks were 0 for 3.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Wrap up a five-game road trip Saturday at Detroit.

Penguins: Visit Nashville on Saturday.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NEW YORK - Jimmy Howard made 32 saves to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Thomas Vanek and Drew Miller scored for Detroit, which improved to 2-2-0.

After beginning the season with two straight losses, the Red Wings have won consecutive games.

And they have Howard to thank for their latest win as New York had the better of play for wide stretches. The Rangers outshot Detroit 33-18 for the game and Howard was forced into making highlight reel stops to keep the Red Wings in the game.

New York led 1-0 as Mika Zibanejad redirected Ryan McDonagh's slap shot from the right point past Howard 1:09 into the game. The Rangers carried the 1-0 lead into the first intermission, following an opening 20 minutes in which they outshot the Red Wings 14-7.

Zibanejad's goal accounted for all of New York's offense, and the Rangers have alternated wins and losses through their first four games.

Their lead could have been larger as Jimmy Vesey and Brady Skjei had shots that hit goal posts late in the first, and Michael Grabner, Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello all misfired on quality scoring chances in the first three minutes of the second period.

New York's inability to convert and Howard's play proved costly when Vanek tied the game 6:15 into the second with a power-play goal.

The game remained tied until 59 seconds into the third period. Luke Glendening's forecheck forced Henrik Lundqvist into committing a turnover behind his net, and Miller fired a shot into the net before the New York goaltender could fully recover for his first goal of the season.

Jester Fast appeared to tie the game with 3:38 left in regulation by redirecting Kevin Klein's shot from the point, but the goal was immediately disallowed as the New York wing had played it with a high stick.

Lundqvist made 16 saves on 18 shots.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Thursday's game between the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers will mark a few homecomings.

All eyes will be on Nail Yakupov, who the Oilers traded to the Blues before the start of the season. Yakupov has been widely regarded as a draft bust; the first overall pick in the 2012 draft, the Russian right winger got only 50 goals in 252 games as an Oiler.

In four games with the Blues, Yakupov has a goal and an assist.

"It is weird," Yakupov told Oilers play-by-play man Jack Michaels in a 630 CHED interview. "When I was here, I didn't expect that I would stay in a hotel in this city, because I lived in this city. But, it's different. But, it's really good, now, we have a good team and a good group."

"He is fitting in," said Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo of his new teammate. "It's a different environment coming in -- and new linemates. I think he's playing a pretty hard game. He's created some really good chances. It's new systems for him ... but he's adjusting pretty well."

But it's another Russian who is lighting it up for St. Louis. Vladimir Tarasenko is tied for the league lead with four goals.

And, Thursday will also mark the final time Ken Hitchcock will coach an NHL game in his hometown.

Unless he has a change of heart, Hitchcock, an Edmonton native, is in his final season as a head coach. The Blues visit Rogers Place only once this season.

The Blues have started Hitchcock's final season in blistering fashion. Despite losing 2-1 in overtime in Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Blues are 3-0-1. It marks only the second time in team history that the Blues have earned points in the first four games of a regular season.

Meanwhile, the Oilers have won three of their first four, and scored 17 times in the process. Thursday's game, though, is the team's fourth home game of the season already -- the Oilers have played just one road date.

Because October is filled with so many home games for the Oilers, coach Todd McLellan said a good start to season isn't a want, it's a need.

"Having home games, and needing to put some points in the bank, knowing eventually you've got to go out on the road, we've been able to do that," he said. "I don't think anybody is comfortable yet, so we got some things we really need to work on. It keeps us on our edge, maybe I'm being too critical of our group."

The issue is that the Oilers have scored 17 (most in the Western Conference), but given up 15 (also most in the Western Conference). Each of the four games played so far this season have felt like a return to the Air Hockey Era of the 1980s.

But Oilers goalie Cam Talbot turned in his best performance of the season Tuesday, stopping 31 of 33 shots after giving up six goals in a loss to Buffalo on Sunday .

"I need a big bounce-back game, after the game I had last. As a team, I think that sometimes we let those losses kinda snowball in the past."

On Wednesday, Talbot and his wife welcomed twins to their family.

Oilers defenseman Mark Fayne left Tuesday's win over Carolina with a lower-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve Wednesday and the Oilers called up defenseman Ben Betker from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif. The Oilers did not practice Wednesday.

The Blues placed Jori Lehtera, who hurt his hip Saturday in a win over the New York Rangers, on injured reserve Wednesday, which opens up a roster spot.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

PHILADELPHIA - Ed Snider created a Philadelphia Flyers franchise stocked with so many great moments, all it takes is a simple crane of the neck toward the banners hanging from the rafters to rekindle 50 years of memories.

Banners celebrate division titles (remember the Patrick Division?), conference championships and numbers of retired greats. Bernie Parent. Mark Howe. Bobby Clarke. All among the Flyers immortalized with one of sport's highest honors.

Two banners have been raised for each of the Flyers' Stanley Cup championships.

Walk around the Wells Fargo Center and see concourses stuffed with history; every hat - and even a bra or two - tossed on the ice for a hat trick, plaques, newspaper clippings, a scroll in honor of all 112 individual and business season ticket holders of the Flyers' first season in 1967-68 are on display. The Flyers have long been known for their ode to the past, yet what's in public view barely scratched the ice of what the team has preserved.

''Ed Snider was very proud of the history of the Flyers from Day 1,'' said archivist Brian McBride. ''They saved and collected stuff from the get-go. You don't often think of things as history when it's happening, and then it's history, and you think, we should have saved that.''

Take a winding staircase to reach what employees dub ''the bat cave,'' and Flyers history is stacked floor-to-ceiling with programs, magazines, slides, photos and sports sections that have documented 50 years of history.

The Flyers (1-1-1) open the home slate of their 50th anniversary season Thursday against Anaheim for the first time in team history without Snider. Snider died of cancer in April.

His foresight to save, save, save, helped turn space inside the arena into a sort-of sports edition of ''Hoarders,'' only with a tinge of nostalgia sweeping through every step of would could stand for the franchise's cluttered Hall of Fame.

''He was always appreciative of the history,'' McBride said.

Only the Flyers save more than Bernie Parent.

Snider, who enjoyed greeting his players with a handshake in the locker room, ordered cameras for players and employees so they could snap photos during the Flyers' 1970s heyday. Flip through one of the piles of photo albums and find plastics sheets holding shots of Clarke hoisting the Stanley Cup trophy, but also of Snider shaking hands with fans during the parade and candid snapshots like late announcer Gene Hart swimming in a pool.

Think the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto would want some of this gear: An All-Star game jersey from Eric Lindros, and, a full Clarke equipment set from the 1977-78 season with jersey (with Barry Ashbee patch), stick, pads and gloves.

Clarke, the greatest Flyer, has spent 45 years in various roles with the team. He's the career leader in games played and points and delivered a poignant speech about what he hoped happened to him when he died at Snider's funeral.

''I really hope that when I get there, I get another chance to play one more game in the orange and black under Mr. Snider's Philadelphia Flyers,'' he said.

The Flyers don't have their first game on tape. The earliest recording in possession is the first two periods of the Jan. 4, 1968 game against Boston.

But who needs TV in what could be a fan cave?

Pull up a chair (plucked from their old home, the Spectrum), flip through the record collection and put the needle on a vinyl album of ''God Bless The Flyers.'' Forget video clips or games stored on the DVR. The album includes ''exciting play-by-play action, highlights and interviews of the `73-'74 championship season.'' Thirsty? There are unopened cans of soda from decades ago stamped with the Flyers logo on the shelf.

And for the brave man who wants to smell like a champion today, there's even a bottle of ''Bully'' cologne.

Duck! But don't worry, if a loose puck bops you on the head, the Flyers still have plaques for ''The Loyal Order of the Unducked Puck.''

''To you, brave fan, who courageously stopped a puck without leaving the stands, the Philadelphia Flyers award full membership in the loyal order of the unducked puck, with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereunto.''

None of the sprays, plays and collector's items would be stored without that need for the first score sheet.

California Seals 5, Flyers 1. Oct. 11, 1967. The lineup: Jean Gauthier and John Miszuk on defense; Lou Angotti at center; Brit Selby at left wing; Wayne Hicks at right wing; and Parent in net.

The Flyers have simply saved most of the memorabilia, though many pads, pucks and Polaroid's have been donated from players or employees.

There's no guarantee the Flyers will add another banner for this season.

But that bobblehead, yearbook, and foam finger will surely be preserved for decades to come.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

MONTREAL - David Desharnais scored twice and Al Montoya made 36 saves as the Montreal Canadiens won their home opener, 4-0 over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

Off-season signing Alexander Radulov got his first goal as a Canadien - with Montoya picking up an assist - while Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal, which has started the season 2-0-1. Montoya, signed from the Florida Panthers this summer, picked up his sixth career shutout.

The Penguins, coming off an overtime loss at home Monday night, played their first road game of the season.

While the ailing Carey Price got a huge ovation from the Bell Centre crowd in pre-game introductions, his replacement Montoya was spectacular in goal as Pittsburgh outshot the Canadiens 36-32. Of note were saves a minute apart in the first period on close range attempts by Justin Schultz and Matt Cullen.

There were 30 shots taken in the first - 17-13 for Pittsburgh - but was on only the second of the period that Pacioretty opened the scoring at 23 seconds as he took a feed in the slot from Jeff Petry and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot.

Desharnais was parked alone in front of Fleury when he slammed in Pacioretty's blind, backhand pass from the corner 12:07 into the second.

Radulov scored 4:31 into the third as he burst down the right wing and cut in front. The Penguins challenged, claiming goaltender interference by Brendan Gallagher, but the goal stood.

Desharnais was alone at the side of the net to tap in a cross-ice pass from Jeff Petry at 13:44 after sustained pressure in the Pittsburgh zone.

NOTES: The Canadiens made one lineup change, sending in Brian Flynn for Daniel Carr. ... Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby (concussion) did not play. ... The Penguins went with Fleury in goal for a second consecutive night rather than use backup Mike Condon, who they claimed off waivers from Montreal two weeks ago. Condon lost the backup job in camp to Montoya. ... In pre-game introductions, former coach Jacques Demers, recovering from a stroke, brought out a torch in his wheelchair to pass to Pacioretty. Shea Weber, obtained in the deal for P.K. Subban, got the loudest applause of the players on the ice.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

OTTAWA, Ontario - Tom Pyatt, Mark Stone, and Chris Kelly had a goal and an assist each as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Arizona Coyotes 7-4 on Tuesday night in front of a sparse crowd of 11,061 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Bobby Ryan, Zack Smith, Kyle Turris, and Erik Karlsson, into an empty net, also scored for the Senators, who have won three of four. Mike Hoffman had three assists and Craig Anderson made 31 saves.

Jordan Martincook scored twice, including his second at 18:43 just 30 seconds after Turris gave the Senators a 6-3 lead.

Tobias Rieder and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had the other goals for the Coyotes

Arizona lost the services of starting goalie Mike Smith seven minutes into the third period when he suffered an injury to his left leg during a scramble in front of the net.

Smith, who had stopped 27 of 30 shots before getting hurt, was replaced in the goal by Louis Domingue, who surrendered two goals on the first three shots he faced less than a minute after entering the game.

Kelly capitalized on a giveaway and beat Domingue from in close at 7:30 and then Stone scored on a rebound at 8:11, giving the Senators a 5-2 lead.

Domingue finished with eight saves.

Martincook pulled the Coyotes within two at 10:07.

Ekman-Larsson had cut the Senators' lead to 3-2 with a power-play goal just 61 seconds into the third period.

Zack Smith scored a shorthanded goal to give the Senators a 3-1 lead.

On his goal Smith got a great backhand pass from Pyatt and scored with a quick shot at 13:04. It was Smith's second goal of the season as he works to try and duplicate his career-high 25 goals from last season.

The Coyotes had opened the scoring in the first period when Rieder beat Anderson on a rebound from the slot.

The Senators are 3-0-0 at home this season and will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday before heading out on a three-game Western swing.

The Coyotes continue their season-long six-game road trip in Montreal on Thursday.

NOTES: Senators scratches were Matt Puempel and Phil Varone while Jacob Chychrun, Jamie McGinn, and Christian Dvorak were scratches for the Coyotes. ... The Senators' first goal Tuesday snapped an 0-for-9 start to their power play this season. ... Along with Strome, Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot was also making his NHL debut Tuesday night.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

NEWARK, N.J. - Taylor Hall made his new fans in New Jersey very happy with two power-play goals in a 4:11 span in the second period and the Devils posted their first win, a 2-1 decision over the road-weary and penalty-plagued Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

Related: Watch: Hall pounces on rebound for 1st goal with Devils

Cory Schneider had 23 saves and forced the Ducks' Chris Wagner to lose control of the puck on a second-period penalty shot as New Jersey snapped a five-game losing streak against Anaheim in its home opener.

Sami Vatanen scored on a power play for Anaheim, which is 0-3-1 in its five-game trip to start the season. John Gibson made 26 saves for Ducks, who played shorthanded seven times.

Hall, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who was acquired in a major trade with Edmonton in late June, tied the game at 1-all, putting the rebound of a shot by Mike Cammalleri into an open net at 12:35. It came after Anaheim killed off the opening part of a two-man advantage only to see New Jersey score 5-on-4.

Hall's second goal came on a great deflection of a point shot by defenseman Damon Severson at 16:41. Gibson never had a chance.

Wagner got his penalty shot near the end of the period but lost control of the puck after making a move on Schneider.

Anaheim got a late power play but could not convert.

Vatanen had given Anaheim the lead at 9:03 of the first period with a shot from the right circle. The Ducks never let the Devils clear the puck out of their zone after Kyle Palmieri was called for tripping at 7:15.

New Jersey was 0-for-5 on the power play in its first two games in Florida against the Panthers and Lightning.

Devils rookie defenseman Yohann Auvitu lost an apparent game-tying goal early in the second period when Reid Boucher was whistled for a high stick against defenseman Kevin Bieksa seconds before the puck went in the net.

NOTES: Devils F Sergey Kalinin (illness) is practicing again. He was placed on IR before the season. ... Vatanen's goal gave him 100 NHL career points. ... The game opened with a short fight between the Devils' Vernon Fiddler and the Ducks' Ryan Kesler. ... Adam Henrique and Devante Smith-Pelly seemed to hit goal posts in the first period.

UP NEXT:

DUCKS: at Philadelphia on Thursday night before heading home.

DEVILS: visit Boston Thursday night.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and two assists and the Buffalo Sabres pounded the Edmonton Oilers 6-2 on Sunday night for their first victory of the season.

Brian Gionta also scored twice, and Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson had Buffalo's other goals. Robin Lehner made 31 saves.

Benoit Pouliot and Milan Lucic scored for the Oilers, who had won back-to-back games before the loss.

Cam Talbot stopped 17 shots for Edmonton. Jonas Gustavsson relieved Talbot in the second period and stopped the only shot he faced before exiting with an injury about 10 minutes later.

Buffalo started the scoring 2:37 into the first period when Sam Reinhart made a nice feed across to Okposo and he beat Talbot for his first as a Sabre.

The Sabres went up 2-0 7:14 in. Okoposo made a great pass while on the power play to O'Reilly at the back door.

Edmonton got one back with 2:40 left in the opening frame when the rebound from Zack Kassian's shot went off the leg of a hard-charging Pouliot and past Lehner.

The Oilers tied the game with 1:00 left in the period when the big rebound from Leon Draisaitl's shot came out to Lucic, who scored his first goal as an Oiler and the 400th point of his career.

Buffalo got a freebie 3:53 into the second when O'Reilly took a shot just from Buffalo's side of center that Talbot badly misjudged and ended up tipping into his own net.

The Sabres restored their two-goal lead midway through the second when Gionta tipped in Johan Larsson's point shot, prompting Edmonton to bring in Gustavsson.

With Talbot back in net, the Sabres made it 5-2 just 37 seconds into the third. Gionta tucked a shot between Talbot's legs on Buffalo's 16th shot of the game.

The Sabres kept it coming with Moulson's power-play goal four minutes later.

NOTES: The Sabres were without a pair of big-name players up front with center Jack Eichel out an expected six to eight weeks with an ankle sprain and forward Evander Kane likely out several weeks with broken ribs. ... Buffalo did get a boost from the return of Okposo, as the free agent signing played his first game after missing their opener with a sore knee. Buffalo defenseman Dmitry Kulikov also made his debut.

Oilers: Host Carolina on Tuesday.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

DENVER - Joe Colborne had three goals for his first NHL hat trick, Colorado withstood a 6-on-4 opportunity over final 46 seconds and the Avalanche held off the Dallas Stars 6-5 on Saturday night.

Trailing 2-0 early, Colborne scored three of Colorado's next five goals to build a 5-2 lead. Carl Soderberg and Nathan MacKinnon also scored during the stretch, and Tyson Barrie added an insurance goal in the third period to kick off the Jared Bednar Era in winning fashion.

Bednar took over for Patrick Roy after the Hall of Fame goaltender-turned-coach surprisingly stepped away two months ago.

Tyler Seguin had two goals for the Stars, while Devin Shore, Jamie Benn and Brett Ritchie also scored.

Dallas pulled starter Antti Niemi at 7:05 of the second period after allowing five goals. Kari Lehtonen slowed the Avalanche's potent offensive attack so the Stars could work their way back into the game.

Barrie scored a goal that appeared to bounce off the skate of Stephen Johns and past Lehtonen to make it 6-4. Soon after, Ritchie made it a one-goal game when he slid a shot past Semyon Varlamov.

Blake Comeau was called for slashing with 1:56 remaining. The Stars pulled Lehtonen, but couldn't get anything past Varlamov.

The Avalanche certainly had ample opportunities to gain some separation in the third period. A shot by Andreas Martinsen clanged off the post. Later, Fedor Tyutin's slap shot appeared to go in and the horn sounded. But the puck actually hit the outside of the net. And later, Mikhail Grigorenko had a shot roll along the mouth of the goal before veering just wide.

Colborne signed with the Avalanche as a free agent in July after a 19-goal, 25-assist season with Calgary. He's a fan-favorite given that he played collegiately down the road at the University of Denver.

Bednar was a career minor leaguer - as a defenseman and then as a coach - before being hired by Colorado on Aug. 25. The 44-year-old led the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League to the Calder Cup last season.

His style may be even more up-tempo than the version Roy implemented. Colorado outshot Dallas 33-28.

It was a fast-paced first period filled with plenty of scoring. The Stars got things rolling early when Seguin scored a power play goal 43 seconds into the game. Shore added another 6:17 later and the Stars were in business with a 2-0 lead.

That's when things got a little wild. There was a scrum in front of the Stars goal and defenseman Patrik Nemeth sprawled out on the ice to keep it out of the net. The puck appeared to go in, but the ruling kept changing: No goal, goal, an awarded penalty shot to the Avalanche, a review where the goal was re-awarded. Finally, another review and the goal really did count.

In the end, Colborne was credited with the score. He added another 7:04 later.

The Avalanche haven't garnered much early respect with a majority of prognosticators predicting they'll finish outside of the playoff picture.

''People can say what they want,'' said Matt Duchene, who will serve as an alternate captain this season. ''Go out there and prove them wrong - that's our job.''

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.