The Colorado Avalanche finished off their season-opening, East Coast road trip with a 4-0 shutout against the Boston Bruins. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov turned away 29 shots, and Nail Yakupov’s two-goal effort ensured the Avalanche are coming home with a 2-1-0 record — where they will face off against the Bruins again.
Despite only taking five shots on goal in the first period, the Avalanche jumped ahead early. The first strike came at 4:41 in the first period, when Sven Andrighetto’s shot deflected off of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask’s glove and into the net. J.T. Compher followed up at 13:22 — while the Avalanche were shorthanded — with a wrister past Rask on a 2-on-1 break, giving the Avalanche an early 2-0 lead going into the first break.
In the third period, still with a 2-0 lead, Avalanche winger Nail Yakupov beat Rask in a footrace to a loose puck in the faceoff circle, firing a wrister past him to make it 3-1 at 6:07. Yakupov added a controversial empty-netter at 19:16, after the net was forced off of the pegs by the Bruins. Following a quick review, the goal gave the Avalanche a 4-0 shutout. Yakupov, picked first overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2012, joined the Avalanche in the offseason on a one-year deal after being released from St. Louis.
Despite giving up four penalties, the Avalanche only allowed four power-play shots, holding the Bruins 0-for-4 and continued to show improvement from last season’s 29th-ranked penalty kill. Varlamov had 29 saves throughout the game, and the Avs blocked an additional 14 shots throughout the game, taking some of the pressure off their goaltender after he had faced 39 shots in his first game of the season against the New York Rangers.
The win continues a streak of 10 straight road wins against the Boston Bruins, which is the Bruins’ longest current home losing streak against any opponent. The last time the Bruins defeated the Avalanche in Boston was on March 30, 1998.
The Avalanche and Bruins square off again Wednesday, Oct. 11 in Denver at Pepsi Center for the Avalanche’s home opener. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m.
