The Vancouver Canucks didn't waste much time welcoming Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov back to action. Manny Malhotra scored his first goal of the year off assists from Cody Hodgson and Jannick Hansen to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead after the first period at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
The Avalanche could consider themselves lucky to only be down a single goal after the first period, as Vancouver dominated the early action. The Canucks out-shot Colorado 16-6 in the first period. For their part, the Avalanche won more faceoffs (9-5) and out-hit the Canucks 11-8.
The Avalanche's Shane O'Brien logged the lone penalty of the first period when he was called given two minutes for interference against star Canucks wing Daniel Sedin.
Scratches for the Avalanche included defenseman Erik Johnson, wing Cody McLeod and Brandon Yip.
For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey or our Canucks blog Nucks Misconduct.