David Aebischer has literally seen a lot of NHL playoff action the past three seasons.

Aebischer has been mostly on the Colorado bench during 51 playoff games and collected a Stanley Cup ring as Patrick Roy's backup during the Avalanche's 2001 championship season.

But he has only played in two playoff games, for a total of 35 minutes, so the playoff opener Wednesday night against Dallas at the Pepsi Center was his postseason debut as a starter.

Aebischer played well, making 37 saves in helping the Avalanche notch a 3-1 triumph against the Stars. Now he can't wait for Game 2 on Friday at the Pepsi Center.

"It was weird the whole warm-up," Aebischer admitted. "It was a little bit different. I was a little bit more nervous that usual but after the puck dropped, it went away.

"I felt good, but the most important thing was to get the win. It doesn't really make a difference how. I think we worked hard for 60 minutes and it was a good 3-1 win."

Dallas outshot the Avalanche 32-10 in the final two periods, but Aebischer was strong and the crowd was chanting "Abby, Abby, Abby" several times in the third period.

"He was great," Peter Forsberg said. "He kept us in the game. They had a lot of power plays, and he made some unbelievable saves. It was great to see him play like that."

Dallas went 0-for-5 on the power play, and Colorado killed a brief two-man disadvantage in the third period.

"We got into some penalty trouble, and Aebischer stayed focused and came up with some big saves," defenseman Adam Foote said. "He's been doing that all year."

Aebischer played like a schooled playoff veteran. He never seems to get flustered, no matter what the circumstance, and that was the case Wednesday night.

"I felt I was always square to the puck, and if you do that, it's always good for you to stop the puck," Aebischer said.

He lost his shutout on a goal by Niko Kapanen that slipped past him at the 13-minute, 30-second mark of the third period, but he came back to make key saves on Sergei Zubov during the Stars' power plays, which had the fans yelling his name again.

"It was weird, I thought I had it," Aebischer said of Kapanen's goal. "All of a sudden, the first thing I knew was nobody was saying anything in the stands. I was surprised it was in the net. But one goal, I can't complain."

Aebischer, who completed his first season as the Avalanche's No. 1 goalie with a 32-19-9 record and a 2.09 goals-against average, didn't have much work in the first period and had to make only six saves.

"It was tough the first 30 minutes," Aebischer said. "They had only eight shots (actually six), and I had to stay in the game and stay sharp. But we played very well."

In the second period, the Stars tested Aebischer, and he saved all 11 Dallas shots.

He was particularly sharp during two Dallas power plays in the second period, and instead of "Roy, Roy, Roy" the fans were reciting Aebischer's nickname.

Aebischer's last save of the second period came when he was playing without his stick.

He had it knocked out of his hands and into the corner but managed to glove Jere Lehtinen's shot just before the buzzer sounded.