Center Matt Duchene scored a third-period goal in his preseason debut Thursday at the Pepsi Center in the Avalanche's 5-1 win against Dallas.

Duchene didn't speak with the media after the game. (He did say hello to me as he and most teammates were heading out the door while towing equipment bags.)

He wore an 'A' on his jersey and received a warm welcome from the fans when he was introduced as part of the starting lineup.

Duchene skated on a line with rookie left wing Alex Kerfoot (one goal, one assist) and right wing Nail Yakupov (three assists). Yakupov fed Duchene skating down left wing for a shot that beat Stars backup goalie Landon Bow at 5:56 of the third period.

"I can't speak for Matt's feelings," coach Jared Bednar said. "I know this, I've talked to him, I think he's come back a motivated player and he's playing with two other good players, and that line's been good all training camp."

Duchene had six shots in 18:38 of ice time, he won 17 of 21 faceoffs and was plus-2.

"Absolutely," Bednar said when asked if he liked Duchene's game. "I thought that line was really good, all three guys."

The line combined for six points (two goals, four assists), nine shots and a plus-6 rating.

There were scouts from seven teams -- Vancouver, Montreal, Anaheim, St. Louis, Calgary, New Jersey and Buffalo.

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Goalie Semyon Varlamov also made his preseason debut and had 21 saves. The only goal came when Roope Hintz knocked in a rebound on a 5-on-3 power play at 11:06 of the third period.

Defenseman David Warsofsky, 27, who signed as an unrestricted free agent July 1, played 23:17 and had a goal and an assist.

While just 5-feet-9 and 170 pounds, he had 47 points (16 goals, 31 assists) in 58 games last season with Wilkes-Barre of the AHL. He played seven games for Pittsburgh and has been in 39 NHL games in parts of seven pro seasons.

"He's in the mix, he's fighting for that job," Bednar said. "In both of the games, Burgundy and White and tonight, he was really good."

Defenseman Sergei Boikov scored a first-period goal and sustained a shoulder injury shortly after when Stars forward Remi Elie checked him hard into the boards in the corner.

Duncan Siemens responded by fighting Elie. He won handily and yelled at him after entering the penalty box.

Of Boikov's injury, Bednar said: "I'm getting the impression it's not day to day."



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