NHL Recap (Colorado-Detroit)
Posted: Thur April 2, 1998 at 12:23 a.m EST
DETROIT 2, COLORADO 0
Sergei Federov returned from a two-game suspension to score two
third-period goals and Chris Osgood and Kevin Hodson
combined to stop 14 shots as the Detroit Red Wings blanked
the Colorado
Avalanche, 2-0, in a game marred by several late brawls.
Fedorov, suspended for checking Anaheim's Jason Marshall
from behind on Thursday, snapped a scoreless tie with 12:54 to play. He
capped his first multi-goal game since March 15th, 1997 with an unassisted
tally just over four minutes later.
"I'd like to thank everybody who was out there," said Fedorov, who
held out most of the season and played just 13 games before being
suspended. "I dreamed about (coming back) for a long time. I wanted to get
back and I guess I did arrive tonight. I'd like to thank all the fans for
their support. I do not want to cry in front of you guys, but it is really
emotional for me. It has meant a lot for me."
Osgood, who made 13 saves, appeared on his way to his seventh shutout
of the season. But with 7:11 to play, teammate Martin Lapointe got into a
scrum with Colorado's Aaron Miller along
the boards. Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy began
removing his equipment before challenging Osgood to center ice for a fight.
Both goalies got involved with Roy landing several right hands.
"It was nothing special. Just a fight, that's all," Roy said. "Last
year, the same thing happened and it really got them going. We had to do
something, we had to get going. I am not there to fight. My job is to win
hockey games. Sometimes when things happen, you have to stick together.
Look at what Detroit did last year and they won the playoffs."
Roy and Osgood both received minor, major, misconduct and game
misconduct penalties as the teams combined for 46 penalties totaling 228
minutes.
"At the end of the game, emotions got the better of everyone on the
ice," Avalanche coach Marc Crawford said. "I do not think it was any more
than that. Patrick is a very emotional guy and so were the other five guys
who were on the ice."
"Obviously, I was surprised at what happened out there," Red Wings
defenseman Larry
Murphy added. "It's one of those things. The intesity is so high
between both teams. That's usually the outcome of it."
The Red Wings outshot the Avalanche, 17-8, through two periods.
Fedorov snapped the scoreless tie when he took a pass from Steve Yzerman and
put a backhander between Roy's pads for his fourth goal.
"They do not have key guys back there," Fedorov said, referring to
Colorado's Joe Sakic
and Peter
Forsberg, who are out with injuries. "It's tough against a strong
defense and our goaltending was solid tonight. They tried to turn things
around, but it did not work. We handled ourselves pretty well."
Fedorov doubled the advantage with 8:40 to play when he stole the puck
from Colorado defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh
in the neutral zone and stepped around Ozolinsh before beating Roy between
the pads.
Billington, who replaced Roy following the fight, turned aside four
shots while Hodson stopped the only shot he faced.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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