The Colorado Avalanche started off their five game road trip with a flurry of energy, dominating the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period. Even with Paul Stastny serving a two minute minor penalty for holding the stick, Colorado has outshot the Canes by a 16-11 margin. Many of those Carolina shots occurred in the final minutes of the period, as Colorado had a 12-1 differential halfway through the period.
Carolina goalie Cam Ward has kept the Canes in this game, making spectacular saves — including a pad save on a Matt Duchene backhand shot and stopping Paul Stastny’s breakaway shot at the end of the penalty kill.
Avalanche forward David Jones missed several shifts, possibly injury related, but returned for the final minutes of the period.
New acquisition forward Tomas Fleischmann has logged 5:07 of ice time, paired mainly with Duchene and Jones. New defenseman Matt Hunwick has 6:33 and two shots on goal.