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Nothing past Patrick Roy posts 115th career playoff victory
Posted: Saturday April 29, 2000 06:10 PM
DENVER (AP) -- Behind his back, people were whispering that big-game goalie Patrick Roy had lost his edge the past two seasons and was no longer dominant. Roy put a stop to that talk, at least temporarily, on Thursday night. Roy posted his 13th career playoff shutout, and Peter Forsberg and Sandis Ozolinsh scored as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal series. Roy, tied for third in NHL history in playoff shutouts, extended his playoff record for victories to 115. He had 25 saves, while Detroit's Chris Osgood had 24. Game 2 is Saturday in Denver. Roy, who insists he isn't a shutout goalie, said it was "important to be ready off the start and try to make a couple of saves. That's what happened. "After that, the guys really played well," he said. "Tonight, I was really focused and was moving extremely well in my net. I'm very pleased the way things are going for me so far in the playoffs." Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said Roy, "gave us some big saves right from the start." "That's the strength of Patrick," Hartley said. "He kept us in the game, then we gave him a two-goal cushion and he worked from there." Colorado defenseman Ray Bourque, acquired from Boston on March 6, was fully aware of Roy's reputation. "The bigger the game, the bigger he is," Bourque said. "He made some unbelievable saves in the first half of the first period when we didn't come out as sharp as we'd like. He was on top of his game right off the bat. That really lifts the team." Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman also was impressed by Roy and Colorado's defense. "Their defense didn't give us many chances," Bowman said. "I don't think we had more than seven with a few minutes to go. We had three chances in the first period, and not many after that." Detroit's Darren McCarty agreed. "We had a few chances, but not enough," he said. "They shut down our power play. They outplayed us, and Patrick made the plays. "This was only Game 1. Now we have to get a split here and put this behind us." Forsberg scored the only goal of the first period on a deflection at 10:13. Forsberg stormed down the left side with the puck, and his shot was lost in traffic in front of the net. Red Wings defenseman Steve Duchesne attempted an awkward clearing pass which went directly to Adam Deadmarsh at the right point. Deadmarsh's slap shot was deflected by Forsberg past Osgood. Detroit, the top scoring team in the NHL during the regular season, outshot Colorado 10-7 in the period. The Red Wings missed two scoring opportunities early in the second period. Roy lost his balance after chasing the puck behind the net, and Kris Draper's shot at an open net deflected off defenseman Jon Klemm's stick. Defenseman Aaron Miller later made a stick save to stop Duchesne on a power play. After Martin Lapointe went to the penalty box for roughing, Ozolinsh scored on a power play at 11:39 to make it 2-0. Ozolinsh's shot, past Sergei Fedorov from the left point, ended Detroit's string of 25 straight penalty kills in the playoffs. It was Ozolinsh's fourth goal of the playoffs and his eighth point in six games. Midway through the third, Osgood stopped Forsberg on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Since moving to Colorado from Quebec in 1995, the Avalanche have never lost a second-round playoff series, going 3-0 including a second-round ousting of Detroit last year. Both teams entered the second round well rested and playing their best hockey. Detroit swept the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and Colorado eliminated Phoenix 4-1, going 12-1-0 in their previous 13 games.
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