The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 Tuesday night at Pepsi Center in Denver in their first taste of the NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime format.

Center Victor Rask beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov on a nifty backhand move as he took a pass from defenseman Ryan Murphy and broke in alone 1:49 into overtime to win it for the Canes.  

Goalie Cam Ward was excellent for Carolina, stopping all 26 shots he faced, including several ten-bell saves. He made a desperation stick save on center Matt Duchene late in the third period that will likely be in the save of the year conversation to keep the game tied at 0-0. He then stuffed Avalanche Forward Jarome Iginla on a breakaway on the first shift of overtime, setting the tone for Rask’s winner.

The game definitely did not feature many shots during regulation, as the Avalanche outshot the Hurricanes 26-19 on the night. The Canes were sluggish in the first period, being outshot 9-5 and taking four penalties. They improved throughout the second and third periods, being outshot 7-5 in the second and and 9-8 in the third.

Carolina drew even on special teams tonight, as they failed to convert on all five of their opportunities and other than a shot by Rask that went off the crossbar and the third period could not get much in the way of quality chances. They were perfect on the penalty kill however, holding the Avalanche power play scoreless on four opportunities.

The win tonight was the Canes’ first win over the Avalanche in Denver since their relocation from Hartford, the franchise’s last victory in Denver was a 3-2 Whalers victory in overtime on February 9, 1996.

The win moves the Canes to 2-4-0 on the season and 2-1-0 on the annual State Fair road trip, which will feature seven total games this year. The Canes will now head to California for back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.