Kerfoot gets first NHL goal, Avalanche win home opener

DENVER -- Rookie forward Alex Kerfoot scored his first NHL goal to help the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Boston Bruins 6-3 in their home opener at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.
Sven Andrighetto scored two goals, Matt Duchene and Nail Yakupov each had a goal and an assist, and the Avalanche got empty-net goals from Andrighetto and rookie Tyson Jost 24 seconds apart to secure the win.

The Avalanche (3-1-0) also defeated the Bruins (1-2-0) 4-0 on Monday in Boston.
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Avalanche highlights]
"It obviously is a great feeling," said Kerfoot, who gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:19 of the first period. "I mean, it's a dream to play in the NHL, and to get a goal is pretty special."
Kerfoot was a fifth-round pick (No. 150) by the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 NHL Draft, but he became a free agent and signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Avalanche on Aug. 24 after playing four years at Harvard.
"He's not scared to go to the hard areas to score and create plays," coach Jared Bednar said of Kerfoot, who has been on a line with Duchene and Yakupov since training camp. "There's a lot to like. He's quickly earned the trust of the coaching staff."
The Bruins tied the game 1-1 on Brad Marchand's second goal of the season at 17:06 when he skated down right wing and beat goalie Semyon Varlamov (20 saves) to the far side. It was the first even-strength goal allowed by the Avalanche this season.
Colorado outshot the Bruins 15-5 in the second period and scored three goals to take a 4-1 lead and chase goalie Tuukka Rask, who was replaced by Anton Khudobin to begin the third.

Khudobin stopped all nine shots he faced and the Bruins used goals by Tim Schaller and Torey Krug 1:27 apart to close within 4-3. Schaller jammed in the rebound of Danton Heinen's shot at 11:30, and Krug knocked in his own rebound at 12:57 on a power play.
"You see in the third period if you're willing to put in the work, it pays off," Krug said. "We were able to climb back in the game and give ourselves a chance. You can try to use as many excuses you want, but you've got to be more committed to battles and I'm a big part of that as well."
Nathan MacKinnon, who had two assists, passed to Yakupov on a 2-on-1 rush for his third goal of the season at 1:00 of the second period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead.
Andrighetto made it 3-1 on a power play at 12:37 off a MacKinnon pass. The Avalanche increased their lead to 4-1 at 15:43 when Yakupov fed Duchene in the right circle for his second goal.
The Avalanche got a scare at 11:53 of the second period when Jost needed help to get off the ice after he was cross-checked by Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid, but he was able to return.
"He was kind of in a bad spot, loses his edge and goes in hard [against the boards]," Bednar said. "Fortunately, he's not hurt. To see him bounce back, our guys are pretty excited to come back out there."

Goal of the game

Tyson Barrie took a shot from the point and it hit Kerfoot as he skated to the front of the net and the puck sailed past Rask.
"I was driving to the net and it was lucky that it banked off me," Kerfoot said. "I scored two in preseason and one of them went off my body too, so two of the three goals so far haven't touched my stick."

Save of the game

Jost passed to J.T. Compher on a 3-on-1 rush and Khudobin slid across the crease to make the stop with 2:43 remaining in the third period, keeping the Bruins within 4-3.

Highlight of the game

Yakupov didn't waste any time after accepting a pass from MacKinnon, and he beat Rask with a one-timer from the right circle.

They said it

"It wasn't good enough. They were better than us again, the second time in three days. Some of the decisions we made away from the puck to put out fires, all we did was create fires really." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy
"Fun game, fun game to coach. I know our players had fun playing it. The crowd was fantastic. Loved our start, loved a lot of things out of that game. I felt like we were there to skate and make plays. We were aggressive." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar

Need to know

The Kerfoot-Duchene-Yakupov line has combined for six goals and six assists in four games ... Rask allowed seven goals on 48 shots in two games against the Avalanche this season.

What's next

Bruins:At the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, NESN, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, PRIME, NHL.TV)