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Eriksson leads stars past Avs

Sep 25, 2009 - 2:59 AM DALLAS(AP) -- Loui Eriksson had two goals and an assist, linemate James Neal added a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday night in exhibition play.

Alex Auld made 32 saves, and Brad Richards had two assists for Dallas (3-3).

Auld was acquired in an offseason trade with Ottawa to serve as No. 1 Marty Turco's backup. Coach Marc Crawford anticipates that Auld will get between 20-30 starts in an effort to lessen the workload for Turco, who appeared in 74 games and led the NHL in minutes played last season.

Dallas was playing its third game in three nights as Crawford, the Quebec/Colorado coach from 1994-98, continues installing his system with a team that missed the playoffs last season.

Marek Svatos had a second-period power play goal and Scott Hannan scored on a 4-on-4 situation with 10:21 left for Colorado (3-2).

Peter Budaj stopped 13 shots as the Avs completed a back-to-back after a 3-2 home victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

Colorado held a 9-0 shots-on-goal edge in the opening 7 minutes, but Neal notched the game's first goal at 12:51 of the first period.

Eriksson scored off Neal's centering pass at 15:47 of the first period to capitalize on a 5-on-3.

Eriksson struck from the slot at 10:03 of the second period to make it 3-0 before Colorado got a power-play goal from Svatos at 12:58.