Best Record in the NHL. the Avalanche Improv

The Avalanche is now 20-10-7 all-time on Opening Night (.637), which is the second- best record in the NHL.

The Avalanche improves to 12-2-1 in its last 15 meetings against Dallas and 8-0-1 in its last nine on home ice.

With a combined 11 goals, tonight’s game is the highest scoring Opening-Night game in Colorado Avalanche history (since the 1995-96 season) passing the previous record of nine combined goals, which has occurred twice: 2015-16 vs. Min (L, 5-4) and 2008-09 vs. Bos (L, 5-4).

Joe Colborne recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career, also tallying his 22nd multiple-point game and third with three points. Colborne is the first player to record a hat trick in his Avalanche debut (since the 1995-96 season) and the second in Avalanche/Nordiques history to record a hat trick in his team debut. He’s also the first Avs player to score two goals in the first period of the season opener since Joe Sakic on Oct 10, 1998 against Ottawa.

Colborne’s hat trick is the second Opening-Night hat trick in Avalanche history (since the 1995-96 season) joining Paul Stastny, who scored three goals against Dallas to open the 2007-08 season on Oct. 3 at Pepsi Center.

With two assists on the night, Francois Beauchemin has totaled five points in two Opening-Night appearances for Colorado. The defenseman picked up three assists in the 2015-16 season opener against Minnesota.

Jarome Iginla played in his 1,475th game tonight, passing Doug Gilmour (1,474) for sole possession of 20th place on all-time list.

Semyon Varlamov extended his win streak against the Stars to 11 games, going 11-0-0 in his last 11 starts. He is now 12-3-2 in 17 career starts against Dallas

Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar improves to 4-3-0 on opening nights as a head coach:

Bednar All-Time Record on Opening Night 2007-08: South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL (W, 7-3) 2008-09: South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL (W, 5-3) 2010-11: Peoria Rivermen, AHL (L, 4-3) 2011-12: Peoria Rivermen, AHL (L, 4-1) 2014-15: Springfield Falcons, AHL (W, 3-1) 2015-16: Lake Erie Monsters, AHL (L, 5-1) 2016-17: Colorado Avalanche, NHL (W, 6-5)

Devin Shore’s first-period tally marked his first NHL goal. The center recorded his first NHL point in the Stars’ season opener against Anaheim on Oct. 13.

QUOTES Colorado C Joe Colborne On His Hat Trick: “It’s been awhile getting a hat trick for me. I’m just happy we got the win, it makes it all that much better. You couldn’t really script it much better than that.”

On The Team’s Performance: “We have some things to work on, that’s a given. We didn’t play well defensively, we didn’t support Varly (Colorado G Semyon Varlamov) like we should, he made some huge saves for us, but it’s exciting. You know, to come out and get a big win against a tough opponent like that. There were some nerves to start. It’s something we can work on. The skill level of this group is exciting for me to see and to have four lines going like they did tonight bodes well for our future.”

Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon On The Game: “It was kind of all over the place. Like you said, we were down then we were up and then we ended up winning by one so a back-and-forth game. Obviously, we want to tighten up more defensively, but we feel good about the W.”

On His Goal: “Broken play. You know, we had another set play in mind. It just kind of popped out to me, it deflected off Gabe (Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog) and I managed to sneak it through him.”

Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog On Getting The Win Tonight: “I mean the two points is what we really cared about tonight and really wanted obviously. But, as you can see out there, there’s things that we have to work on and get better. I think we had a strong first 15 minutes of the second period. I mean, we were playing the way we wanted to play and then kind of let our foot off the gas pedal a little bit. You know, you do that to a good team and they are going to come back and score a couple quick ones. A little too exciting for the way we want to play, we want to be able to keep going and play a full 60 like we did in the second, but there’s always things we can get better at.”

On The Team’s Resiliency: “I think it says a lot. I mean, obviously, they get a bit of a lucky bounce on the first one and an odd-man rush on the second one and like you said, it was a couple of quick goals that kind of took the energy out of the building pretty quickly there in the first but I think we just kept going. We just kept working, sticking to our game plan and our power play came up with two quick ones and that’s what we are going to need from our power play.”

Dallas C Tyler Seguin On Tonight’s Game: “Obviously there was a lot of offense. We’re not happy with how we played. It kind of reminds you of a couple of years ago when we were trying to outscore teams every night. It’s the second game of the season, lots to learn from. We have to tidy up some neutral zone stuff and some own end stuff and we’ll be ready to bounce back next game.”

On Dallas Giving Up A Two-Goal Lead: “I think we knew they were going to come out buzzing around. I think we had the edge after playing in the last game, we were a little more calm and started off good. We just weren’t consistent and we have to do a better job.”

Dallas D Dan Hamhuis On Learning Dallas’ System: “I’m still learning every day. Things are a little bit different here compared to how I’ve played in the past. I think it’s a great system that compliments the way our team plays and the skill set that our team has. I think as a group we can do a better job of executing it.”

On Joining The Offense As A Defenseman: “It’s certainly a balance of creating offense and being in the offense, but also being responsible defensively. I think our system is set up for that and it’s on each of us to make those reads during the game.”