Sep 25, 2008 10:13 pm US/Central
Avalanche Grab Preseason Win Over Stars
T.J. Hensick scored a tiebreaking power-play goal early in the third period to send the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-2 preseason victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Matt Hendricks' empty-netter with 13 seconds left clinched the win for the Avalanche (1-1). Ryan Smyth and Brian Willsie also scored for Colorado.
Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow were the goal scorers for the Stars (0-2).
With the score tied at 2, Hensick converted Smyth's pass at 5:56 of the final period, beating Dallas rookie goaltender Matt Climie.
Climie opened the third period after No. 1 goaltender Marty Turco stopped 11 of 13 shots in the first 40 minutes.
Ribeiro gave Dallas the lead at 8:29 of the opening period, but Willsie tied it about 1 1/2 minutes later.
Smyth's third goal in two preseason games early in the second period put Colorado in front, 2-1. Morrow's power-play goal with 29 seconds left in the period tied it again.
The Stars announced that rookie prospects, defensemen Trevor Ludwig and Guillaume Monast, signed three-year entry-level contracts. Ludwig, son of former Stars defenseman Craig Ludwig, is expected to play for Idaho of the East Coast League and Monast will return to Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior League, the team he skated for last season.
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