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Bruins welcome Avalanche to TD Garden

Oct 10, 2011 - 3:29 PM (Sports Network) - The Boston Bruins will try to complete a season-opening, three-game homestand on a positive note when they host the Colorado Avalanche in today's matinee at TD Garden.

The Bruins have split the first two games on their 2011-12 schedule, losing the opener to Philadelphia in regulation and posting a 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Saturday.

Colorado, meanwhile, lost its season and home opener to Detroit on Saturday and is now embarking on a five-game road trip. The Avs will also make stops in Columbus, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto during this swing,

The Bruins recorded an easy victory in Saturday's rematch of the Eastern Conference finals. Rich Peverley tallied two goals to help lead Boston to the 4-1 victory over the Lightning, who lost in seven games to the Bruins last spring before Boston went on to defeat Vancouver for its first Stanley Cup title since 1972.

Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand each recorded two assists, and Tim Thomas stopped 25-of-26 shots for Boston.

"It certainly [wouldn't] have felt good to start the season with consecutive losses," said Boston head coach Claude Julien. "It was a good game tonight and I think overall we did a good job against a potent offense."

After today, the Bruins will head out on a two-game road trip, beginning with Wednesday's test against Carolina and ending Saturday in Chicago.

The Avalanche will try for not only their first win of the season today, but also their first goal of the year. Colorado was blanked by the visiting Red Wings on Saturday, as Ty Conklin stopped all 29 shots he faced to anchor Detroit's 3-0 victory. Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each scored for the Red Wings.

Colorado honored Peter Forsberg prior to the contest, retiring his No. 21 jersey in a distinguished ceremony. They could have used some of the Swedes' notable vision and playmaking ability, as they managed 10 less shots than the rival Red Wings.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 36 shots for Colorado, which finished last season in 14th place in the Western Conference. Varlamov was making his debut for the Avalanche after coming over in a trade with Washington this summer.

Forsberg spent 10 season of his heralded career with the Avalanche, before retiring following last year's failed comeback attempt. He was a fundamental participant in the bitter Colorado-Detroit rivalries that ignited in the 1990's and have perpetuated since.

Boston has won two of the last three meetings with the Avs, but Colorado is 5-0 with a tie in its last six trips to Beantown.