Wrap-Up: Varlamov The Top Penalty Killer vs. Wild

It wasn't a busy night for Semyon Varlamov, but the goaltender made the key saves he needed to make to help the Colorado Avalanche earn an opening-night victory at Pepsi Center.
Varlamov stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced in the Avs' 4-1 win over the division-rival Minnesota Wild to begin the 2018-19 regular season.
He faced single-digit shots in each period, seeing only five pucks in the first frame and then eight in both the second and third stanzas. After Zach Parise scored Minnesota's only goal at 6:14 of the first period on a tap-in from the low slot, Varlamov was perfect the rest of the way, stopping the next 18 shots to come his way.

"Varly, his strength is usually when he gets 40-plus," said Avs forward Nathan MacKinnon. "I think he's grown so much as a goalie, and his mindset [now] that he can play a low-shot game and stay sharp. He was great."
Of the 21 pucks that Varlamov saw from Wild players, a third of them came during power plays as Minnesota fired seven shots on three man-advantage chances.
"The best penalty killer tonight was Varly," said Colorado head coach Jared Bednar. "They did create the bulk of their scoring chances on the power play. They do have a dangerous power play, they have a lot of good pieces out there. They know how to sort of move the pieces and hit the open man… But Varly was good. He was smothering pucks, low-jam plays to the net, he held his ground."

Varlamov's performance during short-handed situations is more than just stopping pucks, as it is also recognizing where they are going to come from. Bednar said Varlamov attends the P.K. meetings and understands what his teammates are doing in front of him during those disadvantaged instances.
"He knows where the shots are coming from, and he knows that if there is a breakdown, what the troubles might possibly be," Bednar said of his keeper. "He can make the read, just like our penalty killer makes the read. That is one of the strengths, you want your goalies to know where you're going to give the shot up from."

The game was also special for the Samara, Russia, native in that he was suiting up in his 400th career NHL contest and his eighth on opening night for the Avalanche. Varlamov's eight season-opening starts sets a new franchise record, passing Patrick Roy's mark of seven (1996-2002).
Varlamov has started every opening night for Colorado since being acquired by the team prior to the 2011-12 campaign and has finished on the winning end in each of his last three.
TOP LINE IN SYNC:Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have played on the same line for most of the past two seasons, and it appears as if they haven't lost their chemistry to begin the new year.
Rantanen fed his linemate with a perfect, cross-ice pass in the low slot midway through the second period, and MacKinnon tapped in the puck to give the Avalanche a 2-1 advantage. The goal stood as the game-winner.
"His vision is awesome," MacKinnon said of Rantanen. "He is an amazing winger, he has so many good tools. It's a privilege to play with him."

Rantanen added one more point in the contest as he tallied into an empty net with 1:53 remaining to seal the win. Gabriel Landeskog, the third member of the Avs' top-line trio, had the assist.
MacKinnon, Rantanen and Landeskog combined for 88 goals and 225 points in the final 72 games last season after first being put together on Oct. 28, 2017 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
WINS VS. WILD:Colorado won its fourth-straight game against Minnesota and has now picked up points in each of the last five meetings against its division rival. The Avs' four-game winning streak is their longest in the series since 2005-06 (4-0-0, Jan. 5-Feb. 28).
The Avalanche finished last season with a 3-0-1 record against the Wild, picking up victories in the final three contests by a combined 23-5 margin.
"We know each other very well," Bednar said of Colorado's recent success versus Minny. "I think the confidence of our team is growing, and I think it should be growing. We're playing well against that team, and we know they have a lot of really good players and that they're a dangerous team. Hopefully they think the same about us."
Thursday marked the 99th regular-season meeting between the two clubs. Game No. 100 will take place on Oct. 27 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
SODA STRIKES FIRST:Carl Soderberg scored the first goal of the season for the Avalanche, tallying with 7:31 left in the first period to tie the outing at 1-1.
Soderberg used Minnesota defenseman Nick Seeler as a screen while driving toward the net, and his shot went over the right shoulder of goalie Devan Dubnyk.
"Good breakout. They tried to go up high with their D's and pinched on [Matt Nieto]. Good pass to me in the middle and I tried to use him as a screen," Soderberg said of the sequence.
The Malmo, Sweden, native also assisted on J.T. Compher's empty-net goal with 20 seconds remaining for the 40th multi-point game of his career.

DRIES DEBUTS:Sheldon Dries began his second professional season on Thursday and made his NHL debut in the process. The Avs signed Dries as a free agent on July 2 after the forward helped the Texas Stars win the American Hockey League's Western Conference last season.
"It's exciting. I don't think it has really hit me that it will be my NHL debut tonight," Dries said after morning skate. "I think once I get into the locker room pregame and go out for warmup, I think it's going to start hitting me. But once the puck drops, it's just hockey and doing your job."
Dries was the left wing on the club's fourth line, skating alongside Matt Calvert and J.T. Compher. He finished with two shots in 5:13 of ice time.