The Avs rebounded from the loss with a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at Pepsi Center.
Colorado played a veteran-heavy lineup in the final home preseason contest, a preview of the regular-season opener on Thursday, and outshot the Wild by a 41-24 margin.
Alexander Kerfoot was the first skater to score at 13:34 of the first period. The former Harvard forward added two helpers to finish the night with a team-high three points and shared the team lead with five shots.
After Mikael Granlund evened the score at 1-1, Tyson Jost received the puck from Kerfoot and put the Avs back in front with a tap-in tally.
New Colorado acquisitions Matt Calvert and Philipp Grubauer played integral roles in the overtime win. Calvert, 28, potted a power-play goal at 6:16 of the third period while Grubauer, 26, stopped 21-of-24 shots to earn the victory.
A minute and a half into the extra frame, Mikko Rantanen sent the crowd home happy with a game-winning goal off assists from linemate Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Tyson Barrie.
After the game, Rantanen said the team is gearing up to get back to the same level of intensity from its playoff appearance season a year ago.
"We have been working hard in training camp, I think every guy has been in good shape. Obviously, we have skated a lot and working on our game, I think that's the biggest thing," the 21-year-old said. "The results are not the most important thing in the preseason, but the biggest thing is to get our game so we are ready next Thursday when the puck drops and there's two points on the line, so that's the main goal. But I think everybody's feeling better and better after each and every game so we're waiting for next Thursday."
Following their victory against the Avs earlier this week, the Stars fell 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Friday night with former Colorado forward Blake Comeau scoring the only goal of the night for Dallas.
Semyon Varlamov is expected to start against the Stars in front of a veteran-heavy lineup, along with young skaters battling for a few final roster spots.
The final preseason game for Colorado will not be televised. The radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude AM 950 in the Denver area or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.
