Kamensky Energizes Avalanche

NHL

A small fireworks display celebrated hockey’s return to Denver, and Valeri Kamensky closed it with some fireworks of his own.

Kamensky scored two goals, including the game-winner with less than 4 minutes left, to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win Friday night over the Detroit Red Wings in the first regular-season NHL game in Denver in 13 years.

With the game tied 2-2, Kamensky took a pass from Claude Lemieux up the middle and beat Detroit goaltender Mike Vernon at 16:07. Kamensky scored the first goal in Avalanche history at the 10-minute mark in the first period.

“You saw what the new rules will do for Kamensky,” Colorado coach Mark Crawford said of the NHL’s crackdown on defensive holding and obstruction. “Without people being able to hold and grab him, he is a world-class skater who can flat-out fly.”

Colorado goalie Stephane Fiset gave up a power-play goal less than 2 minutes into the game, but was nearly flawless after that, stopping 30 shots.

“After the first goal I knew I had to shut the door,” Fiset said. “That’s my job, just to keep the team in the game. I knew we had lots of time to score, so I just wanted to keep us close and give us a chance to win.”

The Red Wings, who failed to win their season opener for the 13th time in 14 seasons, missed several chances, converting just one of 10 power plays as Vernon turned away 20 Colorado shots.

The Avalanche failed to score on two second-period power plays, but tied the score 2-2 when defenseman Craig Wolanin rifled a shot from the blue line past Vernon for a short-handed goal.

Colorado, which played as the Quebec Nordiques last season, went on to kill three Detroit penalties in the period, including a 5-minute high-sticking violation that earned right wing Warren Rychel a game misconduct.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game and helped hoist a banner signifying hockey’s return to Colorado.

“This is unbelievable,” said Colorado right wing Owen Nolan. “We had good fans in Quebec, but it’s like night and day as far as the loudness. That’s really a great motivational factor, especially when the guys are tired. It really picks us up as a team.”

Avalanche 3, Red Wings 2

Detroit 2 0 0 - 2

Colorado 1 1 1 - 3

First period-1, Detroit, Ciccarelli 1 (Yzerman, Sheppard), 1:47 (pp). 2, Colorado, Kamensky 1 (Krupp, Kovalenko), 10:00 (pp). 3, Detroit, Lidstrom 1 (Kozlov, McCarty), 11:02.

Second period-4, Colorado, Wolanin, 6:10.

Third period-5, Colorado, Kamensky 2, (Lemieux, Krupp), 16:07.

Shots on goal-Detroit 13-11-8-32. Colorado 7-9-7-23.Powerplay opp.-Detroit 1 of 10; Colorado 1 of 6.Goalies-Detroit, Vernon, 0-1-0 (23 shots-20 saves). Colorado, Fiset, 1-0-0 (32-30).A-16,061 (15,399).

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