Eurolanche

Colorado beats Dallas at season opener

Joe Colborne had his first NHL hat trick to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Dallas Stars 6-5 in their season opener at Pepsi Center on Saturday in coach Jared Bednar's NHL debut.

The Avalanche scored three consecutive goals early in the second period, capped by Colborne's third of the game at 7:05, to grab a 5-2 lead and chase Stars goalie Antti Niemi, who was relieved by Kari Lehtonen after facing 20 shots.

Colborne, who signed as an unrestricted free agent July 1, deflected defenseman Nikita Zadorov's shot behind Niemi to complete his hat trick. He scored two power-play goals in the first period, which ended 2-2.

The Avalanche took a 3-2 lead at 0:51 of the second period on a breakaway goal by Carl Soderberg, who accepted a long pass from Tyson Barrie. Nathan MacKinnon scored at 6:08 from a sharp angle at the right side of the net.

The Stars rallied to close within 5-4 on goals by Jamie Benn at 11:48 and Tyler Seguin at 16:02. Benn tipped Seguin's point shot behind Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, and Seguin scored his second goal of the game from the right point with Stars forward Antoine Roussel and Avalanche defenseman Fedor Tyutin screening Varlamov.

The Avalanche extended their lead to 6-3 on Barrie's goal at 13:57 of the third period, and the Stars climbed with 6-5 on Brett Ritchie's goal at 14:53.

The Stars took an early 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Seguin and Devin Shore, but the Avalanche came back to tie the game 2-2 on Colborne's power-play goals.

Seguin scored 43 seconds into the game for a power-play goal when he converted the rebound of Patrick Eaves' shot.

Shore, playing in his fifth NHL game, made it 2-0 at 7:00 with his first career goal. He skated down right wing on a 2-on-1 rush and shot the puck between Varlamov's legs.

The Avalanche made it 2-1 on Colborne's first goal at 9:21 when he slid the puck into the net under Stars defenseman Patrik Nemeth. The original call was no goal and a penalty shot for Colorado, but video review determined the puck crossed the goal line before Nemeth covered it with his hand.

Colborne scored again at 16:25. He was parked in front when he put the rebound of Erik Johnson's shot between Niemi's pads.

-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --