Avs eye 4-0 start in matchup with Bruins

(SportsNetwork.com) - For the first time since relocating to Denver the Colorado Avalanche are 3-0 to start a season.

The Avs will try to stay unbeaten when they visit the 2-0 Boston Bruins for Thursday's clash at TD Garden.

Not even Colorado head coach Patrick Roy, who was the star goaltender on two Stanley Cup-winning teams in Denver, played on a team that began a season with three straight wins. The franchise was still known as the Quebec Nordiques when it last claimed three in a row to start the 1994-95 season.

Colorado earned its most recent win in Toronto, as the Avs downed the Maple Leafs by a 2-1 score on Tuesday to pick up a win in their first road game of the year. Colorado was just 4-16-4 on the road last season.

P.A. Parenteau notched a goal early in the third period on Tuesday and the Avs held on, keeping Roy unbeaten in his rookie season as an NHL head coach.

An Avalanche counter-attack early in the final period broke the tie and led to the 2-1 edge. Jamie McGinn came up with a loose puck near mid-ice, sprinted towards goal and laid off a pass to Parenteau, who led the team in goals last season with 18. The 30-year old tapped it in at the 2:30 mark for his third of the season.

Cory Sarich also lit the lamp for Colorado, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 of 28 shots in the triumph. Varlamov has given up just one goal in each of his three games this season.

"I think it's important for his confidence to get a win on the road," Roy said of Varlamov. "Last year on the road was not as successful."

Despite Varlamov's early-season success, Roy is expected to go with backup Jean-Sebastien Giguere as the starter on Thursday.

Colorado is in the midst of a three-game swing and will complete the trip Saturday in Washington.

The Avalanche have claimed four of the last six meetings against the Bruins overall and Colorado is 6-0 with a tie in its last seven stops in Beantown.

However, Colorado will face a well-rested Boston team that hasn't played since downing the visiting Detroit Red Wings by a 4-1 score on Saturday. That win allowed the defending Eastern Conference champion Bruins to start 2-0 for a second straight season.

Boston scored three unanswered goals in the second period of Saturday's decisive win over rival Detroit. Brad Marchand scored less than a minute into the second to spark the rally and Torey Krug contributed a goal and an assist to the win.

"There's so many things that we have to continue to work on to get better," Krug said. "It's a process; it doesn't just happen."

Jordan Caron and Zdeno Chara added a goal apiece for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask turned away 25-of-26 shots in the triumph.

Thursday's test marks the end of Boston's season-opening three-game homestand. Next up for the Bruins is Saturday's game in Columbus.