Roy Ties Sawchuk As Avs Win

The chase is over. Patrick Roy is second to none among NHL goaltenders.

Roy tied Terry Sawchuk's career victory record Saturday night, making 14 saves for his 447th win as the Colorado Avalanche beat the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1.

Roy, who was 19 when he won his first NHL game for Montreal on Feb. 23, 1985, raised his arms over his head and was swarmed by his teammates as time expired. Defenseman Adam Foote handed him the historic puck.

Playing his 16th season, Roy reached 447 victories considerably faster than Sawchuk, who retired in 1970. Roy reached the mark in his 846th game, while Sawchuk needed 968.

Roy also has the NHL record with 121 career playoff victories.

Roy's milestone victory came at the expense of former protege Marc Denis, Colorado's top draft pick in 1995. Denis, who had a poster of Roy in his room growing up, spent last year with Colorado before being traded in June.

Denis made 30 saves but gave up a power-play goal to Jon Klemm that broke a 1-1 tie 4:03 into the third period. Peter Forsberg added a goal that deflected off the skate of Columbus defenseman Petteri Nummelin with 3:58 remaining.

Chris Drury also scored and had an assist for the Avalanche, who outshot Columbus 33-15.

Roy surrendered a first-period goal but was hardly tested in the second, facing only five shot as Colorado spent more than seven minutes on the power play.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, the Avs finally scored with a man-advantage when Drury took a crossing pass from Ray Bourque, faked a shot to get Denis out of position and then poked the puck into the open net at 8:41.

Colorado had two more power-play chances in the period, but Denis turned away several good shots. After one save, he took a page from Roy's stylebook, sweeping his glove over his head to let everyone know he had the puck.

After going unbeaten during a four-game road trip, the Avalanche looked like they had jet lag early on as Columbus took a 1-0 lead in the first period.

The Blue Jackets, who were 1-for-17 on the power play in their first three games, converted Forsberg's hooking penalty when David Vyborny scored on a rebound with 2:17 left in the period.

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