Roy, Avalanche Roll Over Wings

Patrick Roy stopped 27 shots to become the fifth goaltender in NHL history to amass 400 victories as the Colorado Avalanche extended their club-record winning streak to 11 games with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Roy, who also established a career high with his 10th straight win, joined Terry Sawchuk (447), Jacques Plante (434), Tony Esposito (423) and Glenn Hall (407) in the exclusive club.

This season Roy passed Grant Fuhr (387) for the lead among active players. At 33, he is the youngest goalie to 400 wins and accomplished the feat in the fewest games (753).

Roy stopped eight shots in the first period, nine in the second and 10 in the third. He has allowed just 18 goals during his winning streak.

"It means a lot but it was an outstanding effort from our team tonight," Roy said. "I didn't feel as good as I did the last couple of games but they were so good in front of me, taking care of the rebounds and clearing in front of the net. "

"My teammates deserve a lot of credit for what has happened lately. I never thought I would have 400 wins and now I have a chance to reach the number one guy."

Joe Sakic, Adam Deadmarsh and Sylvain Lefebvre scored for Colorado, which also set a club record with its sixth straight road victory. The Avalanche have not lost since Jan. 9, when standout defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh returned to the lineup after a protracted holdout.

Sakic's goal extended his points streak to eight games and he has eight goals and seven assists over that stretch.

"Our game was the est third period I have seen our team play this year," said Avalanche coach Bob Hartley. "We were solid in the first two periods but in the third we really skated well, got some good scoring chances and played very strong defensively."

Vyacheslav Kozlov scored for Detroit, which lost for just the second time in seven home games. Red Wings defenseman Larry Murphy established a milestone of his own, appearing in his 1,447th game, breaking Tim Horton's NHL record for defensemen.

"We put our top guys on one line and they didn't respond," said Red Wings coach Scott Bowman of pairing Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov. "They wanted more ice time, they got it and didn't respond. You can complain all you want but you have to back it up."

"In a game like this we are expected to produce," Shanahan said. "We were playing a lot against one of the best lines. You look forward to a challenge like that but when you don't succeed it's tough to get to sleep."

After a scoreless first period in which Roy and Detroit's Chris Osgood were up to the task, Sakic got the Avalanche on the board 3:21 into the second. After gathering in a loose puck near the right boards, he broke down the wing and beat Osgood with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle. Sakic's 24th goal was his 12th in 14 games and he has 24 points over that span.

"I saw a little opening in the five hole, went for it and snuck it through," Sakic added.

Kozlov tied the score 37 seconds later with his 12th goal and first in 14 games. After a turnover by Ozolinsh deep in his own zone, Kris Draper put a quick wrist shot on net that Roy stopped. The rebound popped straight up and Darren McCarty swiped at it. But it was Kozlov that cashed in, tapping the loose puck into the net.

Deadmarsh snapped the deadlock with eight minutes left in the second period. With Shanahan in the box for hooking, Deadmarsh took advantage by creating havoc in front of Osgood. Peter Forsberg, stationed at the right point, rifled a shot on net that Deadmarsh got a piece of and redirected for his 16th goal.

Lefebvre extended the lead to 3-1 just under four minutes into the third period. He took a breakout pass from Valeri Kamensky and ripped a slap shot from just inside the blue line, beating Osgood between the pads. After going 42 games without a goal, Lefebvre has scored in two straight contests.

Osgood finished with 27 saves and fell to 20-18-2.

The past 10 meetings between the teams that have captured the last three Stanley Cups have been decided by to goals or less.

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