Rapid Recap: Stars 2, Avalanche 1

The Colorado Avalanche dropped its second game of the 2019 preseason as it fell 2-1 to the Dallas Stars on Thursday at Pepsi Center.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare found the back of the net 2:31 into the first period, but Scottie Upshall and Michael Mersch each had tallies in the third frame for Dallas.

The Avalanche outshot the Stars 47-23 in the contest and had a 16-5 edge in the category in the middle stanza. Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves in his first exhibition game of the season.

THE GOALS

1st Period
2:31 COL (1-0) - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored off a rebound from a Matt Calvert shot.
2nd Period
No scoring
3rd Period
3:59 DAL (1-1) - Scottie Upshall tallied after racing down a loose puck.
15:35 DAL (1-2) - Michael Mersch scored unassisted after his wrist shot tipped off an Avalanche player.
Final: Stars - 2 | Avalanche - 1
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Highlights

POWER PLAY

Colorado: 0 for 4
Dallas: 0 for 3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer played the entire game and made 21 saves on 23 shots.
Dallas: Jake Oettinger started and made nine saves on 10 shots in the first two periods. Landon Bow entered the game in the third period in a pre-planned switch and stopped all 15 shots he faced.

NOTES

• Defenseman Cale Makar played in his first career NHL preseason game
  - Mark Barberio, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Nazem Kadri each had five shots on net
  - Nazem Kadri wore an alternate captain letter in the game
  - Colorado won 61 percent of the faceoffs (35-of-57), with Bellemare winning 89 percent (8-of-9) of his draws

IMAGE OF THE GAME

New Avalanche foward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare plays with a puck during warmup.

ROSTER REPORT

New Avalanche players Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donaskoi, Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin and Calle Rosen all played their first games in an Avalanche uniform… Colorado had three skaters in the lineup that also played in the team's first exhibition game--Mark Barberio, Bowen Byram and Martin Kaut… Philipp Grubauer played the entire game in goal for Colorado.

INJURY REPORT

Nikita Zadorov did not play after suffering a minor lower-body injury at Monday's practice… Erik Johnson (shoulder) is progressing from his offseason surgery and skated with the Avalanche's non-game players in a non-contact jersey on Thursday morning… Kevin Connauton (cheek bone) has been practicing and isn't expected to miss any time during the regular season… Colin Wilson is continuing his recovery from offseason surgery… Ian Cole (hips) has been skating on his own and is improving after offseason surgery

UP NEXT

Colorado opens a home-and-home, back-to-back series at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT. The set will conclude at 5 p.m. MT on Sunday at Pepsi Center, the third and final exhibition contest that the Avs will host this season.

QUOTABLES

Colorado Center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
On his takeaways Ffom the game: "Fun, obviously. That was the fun part tonight. Really excited when you come to a new organization and a bunch of stuff is new during your warmup and a bunch of stuff is new in your routine, so a lot of fun. As the game went on it got less fun in the end but that's the way it is. It's preseason, and the good news is we have a bunch of things to work on."
On his first game with Colorado: Just to be able to play the game. It's been, kind of, obviously, quite a long summer, and as soon as you know you're going to change teams you're kind of excited to be eager to start. The biggest takeaway was just to jump onto the ice with the jersey. For a lot of people, maybe they don't understand, but I'm from France and there aren't a lot of French players out here from France - and it's fun, you know, you have to have respect for all the guys back home who never made it. It's just a lot of fun."

Colorado Defenseman Cale Makar
On his first preseason game: "It's a learning experience. Obviously, it's a completely different roster than we had the other night, and it's the first time in real game situations that we've had since last season. I think for me it was just kind of about getting the legs back moving and rekindling all the strength that you built up last season."
On trying to create chemistry: "For me, I think it's fun. I was obviously with G tonight, or (Colorado D Samuel) Girard and I think we have great chemistry. Regardless of who you put us with, I think we're going to play well. But no, especially just passing to the forwards at the front end you can tell the type of skill that we have. It's going to be fun."