The Colorado Avalanche made Joe Sakic’s night special as the National Hockey League raised the curtain on the 2009-2010 season on Thursday.
Wojtek Wolski scored twice and Colorado opened the season with a 5-2 win over San Jose on the same night they honored their retiring former captain Sakic.
“It was a great game for all of us,” said John-Michael Liles. “It was a great evening for Joe. He’s such a tremendous player. He inspired us to play hard and get that win.”
The win by the Avalanche spoiled the San Jose debut of Dany Heatley in one of four games to open the regular season.
Liles, Darcy Tucker and Cody McLeod also scored for Colorado, which is coming off its worst season since the franchise moved from Quebec to Denver following the 1994-1995 campaign.
Colorado finished last in the Northwest Division and its 69 points was the club’s lowest total in a full season since the Nordiques had 52 in 1991-1992.
The Avalanche held a lavish ceremony for Sakic before the game, retiring his uniform No. 19. The 40-year-old Sakic announced his retirement in July having spent his entire 20-year career with the organization that drafted him.
“I know just by standing here now, I know I’m going to miss this game,” Sakic said. “I’m going to miss this dream playing in front of such great fans, especially this time of year knowing it’s the home opener. You kind of get that itch.”
Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Sharks. Heatley, who averaged 45 goals a year while playing in Ottawa over the last four seasons, was acquired in a trade from the Senators in the deal that sent forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Milan Michalek north of the border.
Heatley played just over 21 minutes and had three shots on goal.
“At times we were okay, but mostly this was just not a good game,” Heatley said. “We were running around a lot, especially after getting behind.”
CAPITALS 4, BRUINS 1
Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist, and Jose Theodore stopped 19 shots to lead the Washington Capitals to victory over the Boston Bruins.
Brooks Laich added two goals and an assist, Nicklas Backstrom had three assists, and Alexander Semin had two for Washington, which had not won in Boston in regulation in 14 attempts since 2000.
Only Patrice Bergeron’s goal with 12:04 left in the game kept Theodore from his 29th career shutout.
Boston’s Tim Thomas, the defending Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s top goalie, made 30 saves.
CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3, OT
At Toronto, defenseman Josh Gorges scored with only 12.8 seconds left on the overtime clock, and Carey Price made 43 saves in Montreal’s season-opening victory over Toronto.
The Canadiens were badly outshot and thoroughly outplayed through two periods, but found a way to hang on and win. They got some help from former teammate Mike Komisarek, who was in the penalty box for two Montreal goals.
Brian Gionta, Travis Moen and Glen Metropolit also scored for the Canadiens.
Matt Stajan had two goals, and Alexei Ponikarovsky added one for Toronto.
FLAMES 5, CANUCKS 3
At Calgary, Alberta, Miikka Kiprusoff made 39 saves to help Calgary open their regular season by beating Vancouver.
Rene Bourque, Brandon Prust and defensemen Mark Giordano and Adam Pardy scored for the Flames, and defenseman Dion Phaneuf added an empty-netter to seal the win. Calgary had lost six straight season-openers.
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