Jan. 1—Winter Classic: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Bruins at Fenway Park.

Feb. 15-Feb. 28—Olympic break.

April 11—Regular season ends.

Peter Budaj made the most of a rare opportunity to shine.

Budaj stopped 39 shots, and Chris Stewart scored two goals in the Colorado Avalanche’ 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

Milan Hejduk and Chris Durno, with his first NHL goal, also scored for the Avalanche. Alex Auld made 29 saves, and Steve Ott scored for the Stars, who suffered just their third regulation loss in December.
Colorado Avalanche right winger Chris Stewart, back, fires a shot between the legs of Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen for an empty-net goal in the third period of the Avalanche’s 4-1 victory in an NHL hockey game in Denver on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009.

Budaj played an average of 45 games the previous four seasons but has become the forgotten backup with the stellar play of No. 1 goalie Craig Anderson. Budaj made just his seventh start of the season against the Stars, but he made it memorable with one of his best games in his five-year career.

“He played excellent,” Colorado coach Joe Sacco said. “He made some keys saves down the stretch.”

Budaj kept Dallas off the boards for most of the game with two big stops on defenseman Jeff Woywitka. The first came on a rebound late in the second and he made a glove save of Woywitka’s shot on a Stars’ 4-on-2 rush with 16:25 left in the third.