AVALANCHE PRESEASON GAME NOTES Wednesday, October 5, 2016 Avalanche at — American Airlines Center

Tonight: The hits the road for a second preseason tilt with the Dallas Stars at 6:30 p.m. (MT) at American Airlines Center. Tonight’s game will be the second road contest and fifth overall of the Avs’ preseason slate. Colorado is 4-0-0 in exhibition games so far this season with wins over the , the Stars and the Kings. Following tonight’s game, the Avalanche will wrap up the preseason with the annual Frozen Fury game against the Kings on Sat., Oct. 8 at the new T-Mobile Arena in .

Tune In: All preseason and regular season games can be heard on the Altitude Radio Network, with Altitude Sports Radio (KKSE 950AM) serving as the flagship home of Avalanche hockey in 2016-17. Marc Moser will call the action for all six exhibition games and all 82 regular season contests, with Altitude TV analyst Peter McNab joining him in the booth for the preseason.

Date Opponent Time (MT) Location Result Tue., Sept. 27, 2016 @Minnesota Wild 6 p.m. Xcel Energy Center W, 4-1 Wed., Sept. 28, 2016 Dallas Stars 7 p.m. Pepsi Center W, 4-2 Fri., Sept. 30, 2016 7 p.m. Pepsi Center W, 3-1 Tue., Oct. 4, 2016 Minnesota Wild 7 p.m. Pepsi Center W, 2-0 Wed., Oct. 5, 2016 @Dallas Stars 6:30 p.m. American Airlines Center Sat., Oct. 8, 2016 vs. Los Angeles Kings 8 p.m. T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)

Avs Undefeated in Preseason: The Avalanche is 4-0-0 in the preseason with wins over the Minnesota Wild, the Stars and the Los Angeles Kings. Colorado has outscored opponents 13-4 through four games and is a perfect 17-for-17 on the kill. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in a shutout effort and Chris Bigras and Carl Soderberg each scored within a 1:13 span to propel the Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at Pepsi Center. Colorado has won each of its four preseason games, three of which have been played on home ice. Varlamov earned the First Star of the Game, stopping all 30 shots he faced, including 13 in the first period. Bigras got the Avalanche on the board at 9:18 of the second stanza for his first of the preseason. Soderberg, playing in his first game since returning from the World Cup, lit the lamp just 73 seconds later to give the Avalanche a 2-0 win.

Second Exhibition Meeting With Stars: Wednesday night’s game will be the second of the preseason between the Avalanche and the Stars. In their first contest against Dallas, the Avs scored first but fell behind 2-1 in the second period before rallying with three unanswered goals in the third to take a 4-2 win. Ben Smith tallied the game-winning at the 15:44 mark of the final frame for his second marker in as many games. Calvin Pickard started in net and stopped 22-of-24 shots in 40 minutes of action. Kent Simpson entered the game in the third period and played the final 20 minutes, making saves on all seven shots he faced.

2016-17 Preseason Game-by-Game Summary Scoring by Period Shots by Period Date Opp. 1 2 3 OT F 1 2 3 OT F PP PK Pen/Min GWG (Saves-Shots) 9/27 @MIN 0 0 0 - 1 11 6 11 - 28 0-3 1-2 2-4 D. Dubnyk (26-29) COL 0 2 2 - 4 8 11 11 - 30 1-2 3-3 3-6 R. Bourque J. Smith (27-28)/N. Lieuwen (11-11) 9/28 vs. DAL 0 2 0 2 13 11 7 31 0-6 2-2 7-20 P. Desrosiers (2-4)/A. Niemi (14-15) COL 1 0 3 4 8 7 5 20 0-2 6-6 11-28 B. Smith C. Pickard (22-24)/K. Simpson (7-7) 9/30 vs. LA 1 0 0 1 10 13 11 34 0-5 4-5 5-10 J. Zatkoff (7-10)/J. Campbell (12-12) COL 2 1 0 3 7 7 8 22 1-5 5-5 5-10 M. Grigorenko S. Varlamov (33-34) 10/4 vs. MIN 0 0 0 0 13 7 10 30 0-3 3-3 3-6 D. Kuemper (13-15)/A. Stalock (4-4) COL 0 2 0 2 2 13 4 19 0-3 3-3 3-6 C. Bigras S. Varlamov (30-30) 10/5 @DAL COL 10/8 *@LA COL * annual Frozen Fury game played at T. Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Transactions: On Sunday, Oct. 2, the Avalanche reassigned the following players to San Antonio (AHL): LW Troy Bourke, C Turner Elson, LW A.J. Greer, C Sam Henley, G Spencer Martin, C Jim O’Brien, G Jeremy Smith, D Ryan Stanton, and RW Joe Whitney.

On Thursday, Sept. 29, the Avalanche reassigned defenseman Nicolas Meloche (Gatineau, QMJHL), forwards Shawn St-Amant (San Antonio, AHL) and J.C. Beaudin (Rouyn-Noranda, QMJHL) and goaltenders Nathan Lieuwen (San Antonio, AHL) and Kent Simpson (San Antonio, AHL). Additionally, defenseman Mason Geertsen and forward Reid Petryk will report to San Antonio (AHL) for injury rehab.

On Monday, Sept. 26, the Avalanche reassigned defenseman Josh Anderson (Prince George, WHL) and forwards Travis Barron (Ottawa, OHL), Jackson Houck (San Antonio, AHL), Brogan O'Brien (Prince George, WHL), Gustav Olhaver (Rogle J20, Sweden) and Jeffrey Truchon-Viel (Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL).

Avalanche vs. Stars Series History: The Avalanche is 39-27-8-8 in 82 games played against Dallas since the 1995-96 season and 18-17-3-3 on the road. Over the last five seasons, the Avs hold a 14-5-2 record in the series. They’re 11-2-1 in the last 14 meetings and has won four of its last five at American Airlines Center. Avalanche captain led all Avalanche skaters with three goals and six points against Dallas last season and was tied for first (with Minnesota’s Charlie Coyle and Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele) in the NHL in points against Dallas. Nathan MacKinnon (one goal, three assists) and Carl Soderberg (two goals, two assists) each chipped in four points in the season series.

Semyon Varlamov has won 10 consecutive regular-season starts against Dallas dating back to the start of the 2013-14 season, going 10-0-0 with a 2.26 GAA and .935 Sv%. Francois Beauchemin (19) and Erik Johnson (18) ranked first and second, respectively, in blocked shots against the Stars last season. Beauchemin’s 84 blocked shots against Dallas since the stat began tracking in 2005-06 is tied for third in the NHL.

NHL All-Time Blocked Shots vs. Dallas Stars (Since 2005-06 Season) Rank Player Seasons GP BkS 1 Zbynek Michalek 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 52 117 2 Marc-Edouard Vlasic 2005-06-2015-16 (10) 49 86 3t Francois Beauchemin 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 48 84 3t Shea Weber 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 39 84 5 Duncan Keith 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 45 82 6 Brent Seabrook 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 46 73 7 Nick Schultz 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 38 72 8t Scott Hannan 2005-06-2014-15 (10) 41 71 8t Ryan Suter 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 42 71 10 Derek Morris 2005-06-2015-16 (11) 43 70

Avalanche vs. Stars (Last Three Seasons) Year Avs’ Record 2015-16 2-1-1 2014-15 5-0-0 2013-14 4-1-0 Total 11-2-1

Burgundy/White Game: The Avalanche hosted its annual Burgundy/White Game on Sunday, Sept. 25 at Magness Arena on the University of campus. Sergei Boikov’s shot rebounded to the stick of Mikhail Grigorenko, and with 28.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Russian forward buried the puck to lift the White team to a 1-0 win. Jeremy Smith, Kent Simpson and Nathan Lieuwen each played a period in net for White, combining for 21 saves in the shutout victory. Calvin Pickard played 40 minutes for Burgundy and made 16 saves on 16 shots before Spencer Martin entered the game at the start of the third period.

2016 Rookie Showcase: The Avs hosted the 2016 Rookie Showcase, a three-day tournament with the and the at the Ice Center at the Promenade in Westminster, Colo., from Sept. 17-19. The Avs won the tournament, taking 4-1 and 3-2 wins over the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks, respectively. Against the Sharks, J.T. Compher led all skaters with a goal and an assist. Chris Bigras, A.J. Greer and tallied the other three goals for the Avalanche. Colorado finished 1-for-2 on the power play while holding the Sharks scoreless on seven opportunities with the man advantage. Spencer Martin stopped all 12 shots he saw before being replaced by Chase Marchand midway through the game. In the second contest against the Ducks, Cody Corbett recorded two assists and Nicolas Meloche, Gustav Olhaver and Chris Bigras each tallied goals to lift the Avs to a 3-2 win. Bigras’ goal, a blast from the point at 4:02 of the third period, stood as the game winner. Martin played all 60 minutes in goal and finished with 30 saves.

2016-17 Regular Season Schedule: The Avalanche opens its 21st season in Denver on Sat., Oct. 15 against the Dallas Stars… the Oct. 15 opener is the latest start date to a full season in Avalanche/Nordiques history… The Avs have only seven games in October (two at home), their fewest ever in that particular month… The Avalanche’s longest road trip of the year is five games (Feb. 11-17), while its longest homestand is also five contests (Nov. 23 to Dec. 3)… Colorado’s busiest month is March (16 games), which will equal its most games ever in that month. The Avs will also match their busiest December ever with 15 dates.