Avalanche Streak By Sharks

The Colorado Avalanche got another solid goaltending job, and this time it wasn't from all-star Patrick Roy.

Backup Craig Billington made 25 saves, helping the Avalanche extend their unbeaten streak to five with a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

"This was our third game in four nights," Avalanche forward Theo Fleury said. "Sometimes you have to win ugly, and that's what we did tonight."

Well, maybe not ugly. Call it workmanlike, and it worked for Colorado.

Goals by Claude Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Chris Drury and solid play by Billington made the difference. Billington hadn't played in the last nine games since March 10.

"He doesn't play often," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said, "but he always responds to the challenge. You know exactly what you can expect from him night after night. It's important that he plays well because we need to keep Patrick from playing back-to-back nights so he can be rested for the playoffs."

San Jose coach Darryl Sutter said his team "didn't finish."

"We spent a lot of time in their zone but couldn't finish on our opportunities. We did a lot of good things tonight, but we came up short."

The game was close from start to finish.

Joe Sakic scored his 38th goal from a short distance at 2:40 of the second period for a 2-1 Avalanche lead. Drury then scored from short range at 14:40 to make it 3-1. Drury now has 41 points and is the most productive rookie scorer in the NHL with an average of one point scored every 23 minutes of playing time.

A minute later, Mike Ricci scored for San Jose at 15:41 to make it 3-2.

"We turned it up in the second period and got a lead and were then able to hold on in the third period," Fleury said. "When you're on the road, you tend to play a little more conservatively and concentrate on doing the basics. We did that tonight."

The Avalanche opened the scoring at 8:34 of the first period when Claude Lemieux scored his 27th on a tap-n after a pass from Sandis Ozolinsh.

San Jose tied the game 36 seconds into the second period when Vincent Damphousse scored from 12 feet.

Despite being down after two periods, the Sharks took just six shots in the final period. The Sharks outshot Colorado 27-23.

"We closed them down pretty well in the third period," Hartley said. "I thought we played a solid, smart road game. I was happy with the way we kept our composure because we had several instances in which we could have lost it."

San Jose is 5-2-3 in its last 10, but the Sharks have lost two consecutive games.

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