Rapid Recap: Stars 3, Avalanche 1

The Colorado Avalanche fell 3-1 to the Dallas Stars on Thursday at American Airlines Center in the Avs' penultimate preseason game of the year.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper played the entire outing and made 26 saves, including 13-of-14 in the second period. J.T. Compher scored for Colorado in the third period. Michael Raffl, Jason Roberton and Roope Hintz tallied for Dallas.
It was the Avalanche's first visit to American Airlines Center since Dec. 28, 2019, and the team's first time facing the Stars since the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Edmonton bubble.

The Avs and Stars meet again to finish the preseason at Ball Arena on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT.

THE GOALS

1st Period
12:44 DAL (0-1) - After an Avalanche turnover, Michael Raffl scored stickside.
2nd Period
8:26 DAL (0-2) - Jason Robertson took a pass from Denis Gurianov and double Dallas' lead.
3rd Period
18:34 COL (1-2) - J.T. Compher tapped Andre Burakovsky's shot into the net after Colorado pulled Darcy Kuemper for an extra attacker.
18:48 DAL (1-3) - Roope Hintz regained the two-goal lead for Dallas when he scored gloveside.
Final: Stars - 3 | Avalanche - 1

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 3
Dallas: 0 for 4

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Darcy Kuemper made 26-of-29 saves.
Dallas: Anton Khudobin stopped 26 shots.

NOTEBOOK

J.T. Compher netted his first goal of the preseason... Colorado faced Dallas for the first time since the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Edmonton bubble. It was the Avalanche's first visit to American Airlines Center since Dec. 28, 2019… In addition to Erik Johnson, J.T. Compher and Samuel Girard wore an 'A' on their jerseys as alternate captains in the outing.

ROSTER REPORT

Colorado reduced its training camp roster to 31 players on Thursday morning, reassigning forwards Stefan Matteau, Kiefer Sherwood and Dylan Sikura and defenseman Rolan McKeown to the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Pavel Francouz was placed on injured reserve on Thursday (retroactive to Oct. 5) after suffering a lower-body injury against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. Defenseman Devon Toews (upper body) has been skating on his own since the start of training camp in a red, non-contact jersey and is expected to miss the beginning of the season. Head coach Jared Bednar was not behind the bench and will miss the Avalanche's final preseason game on Saturday following a positive COVID-19 test. Assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Nolan Pratt will coach the team until Bednar's return.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche finishes exhibition play on Saturday at Ball Arena against the Stars. Game time is set for 5 p.m. MT.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
17 Tyson Jost - 18 Alex Newhook - 75 Sampo Ranta
15 Shane Bowers - 12 Jayson Megna - 95 Andre Burakovsky
43 Darren Helm - 37 J.T. Compher - 25 Logan O'Connor
11 Mikhail Maltsev - 40 Artem Anisimov - 61 Martin Kaut
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 6 Erik Johnson
4 Bowen Byram - 28 Ryan Murray
3 Jack Johnson - 26 Jacob MacDonald
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johansson