Avalanche goalie
Semyon Varlamov is ready for the regular season based on his performance Sunday night.
The Avalanche dropped a 2-1 decision to Los Angeles in a shootout at the Pepsi Center when
Dustin Brown scored the decisive goal in the fourth round.
Tanner Pearson also scored for the Kings in the first round.
Gabriel Landeskog scored for the Avalanche in the third round against former Colorado goalie
Peter Budaj, who is on a pro tryout and replaced
Jonathan Quick to start the third period.
Varlamov stopped 35 of 36 shots through the five-minute overtime. The Avalanche were outshot 6-0 in the three-on-three extra period.
Counting shots, missed shots and blocked shots, the Kings attempted 77 shots, the Avalanche 32.
"They dominated a bit, probably not as much as the shots on net, but I thought we did a good job defending ourselves, keeping them a bit on the outside," coach
Patrick Roy said. "When they had good chances, Varly made some good saves."
Roy said he was "pretty happy with the performance of the team tonight. (The Kings) had a solid lineup out there, a lot of experience. I thought our young guys did a really good job. Varly made some great saves, especially in the three-on-three.
"I thought our structure was pretty good. I was happy with the way we played tonight. I mean, I know we got outshot, but I think it was a good game for our young guys."
The Avalanche tied the game 1-1 on a goal by
Tyson Barrie at 1:39 of the second period.
Blake Comeau carried the puck from behind the net and passed to Barrie in the slot for quick shot by Quick.
The Kings outshot the Avalanche 12-2 in the period and 19-11 through 40 minutes.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 13:19 of the first period on a goal by
Michael Mersch, who put his own rebound by Varlamov with a backhand shot.
Right wing
Jack Skille, who has played really well on a pro tryout, sustained an ankle injury in the first period and didn't return. Roy said after the game he didn't know how serious it is.
Also, the concussion symptoms that caused
Jesse Winchester to miss all of last season have returned. He didn't play in the Burgundy and White game or in any of the first three preseason games. Roy just said he "isn't ready to play now."
The Avalanche will play the final three preseason games on the road: Tuesday in Calgary, Thursday in Anaheim and Saturday against Los Angeles in Las Vegas.
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This was the lineup Sunday :
FORWARDS
Landeskog - Soderberg - Rantanen
Grigorenko - Duchene - Comeau
Martinesen - Mitchell - Skille
Bordeleau - Bleackley - Cliche
DEFENSE
Beauchemin - Johnson
Gormley - Barrie
Zadorov - Guenin
GOALIES
Varlamov
Pickard
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The Avalanche on Sunday reduced the camp roster to 37 players by assigning centers
Colin Smith and
Ben Street, and goalie
Roman Will to the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. The Rampage begin their camp Monday.
*****
NHL.com is running season previews for all 30 NHL teams. My
Avalanche preview is here. Keep in mind my deadline was a week ago.
As part of the preview package, here are
three X-factors that will go a long way in determining if the Avalanche make the playoffs.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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