Roy has his day in beating the Wings

Roy has his day in beating the Wings
�	By Ken Klavon / The Detroit News (Feb 5, 1999)
Detroit -- Not only did Patrick Roy
reach a milestone Friday night, he managed
to steal the limelight from another one. Roy,
adding another chapter to his Hall-of-Fame
career, posted his 400th career win by
helping the red-hot Colorado Avalanche smother the Red Wings, 3-1. Vyacheslav Kozlov
scored for the Wings, while Colorado got goals from Joe Sakic, Adam Deadmarsh and
The victory was Colorado's 11th straight, a franchise record. Detroit fell to 5-15-2 against
teams .500 or above. In the process, Roy's feat upstaged Larry Murphy's special moment of
playing in his 1,447 game as a defenseman. Murphy moved ahead of the late Tim Horton for
the most games played by an NHL defenseman. He also jumped into fifth place all-time.
Murphy was honored during the first television timeout. The Joe Louis scoreboard flashed a
congratulatory message and fans gave him a standing ovation. "It definitely was not a goal by
any means," Murphy said of the record. "It was just one of those things that just kind of
popped up. As the years add on, the games add on, and the next thing you know, 'Here you
are.' But the night really belonged to Roy. NHL player of the month in January, Roy joined
former Wings Terry Sawchuk (447) and Glenn Hall (407) in the 400 club, Jacques
Plante (434) and Tony Esposito (423) It also was a career-best 10th straight win for Roy,
one better than the previous mark he set in 1994. He also made 27 saves. "I give him credit,"
Martin Lapointe said. "He's a great goaltender. He's proven that. He was a force out there
and that's why he has 400 wins." Roy, who isn't exactly a favorite of Wings fans, made it no
secret that he relished winning No. 400 against Detroit. But afterward he downplayed the
significance of that. "It was good timing," he said. "I was saying it'd be nice if it happened
(against Detroit). It happened because the guys played extremely well." Said Avalanche
Coach Bob Hartley: "It's a great honor for the organization, to be able to count on Patrick,
and to be a part of what Patrick accomplished. It's something to get 400 wins as a goalie in
the NHL in these days." The game began conservatively. Both teams took away the neutral
zone, forcing the other to dump the puck in. Scoring chances were at a bare minimum. With
four minutes left in the period, Lapointe and Rene Corbet woke everyone up with a blazing
fight that saw Lapointe chisel Corbet to the ice with three solid punches. "I know Rene, he
knows me," Lapointe said. "We played against each other in juniors, but that's the kind of
stuff that can happen in a game." The scoring began in the second period. Shortly after
Brendan Shanahan was robbed at the doorstep by Roy, Sakic beat Chris Osgood high to
the glove side for his 24th of the season. Off the faceoff, Sakic had caught Jamie Macoun
flat-footed in the Colorado zone after an errant pass. He sprinted to Osgood's left side
before snapping off his shot. Thirty seven seconds later the Wings tied it. To the left of Roy,
Kris Draper picked the puck from a Colorado defender and shot high. The puck bounced in
front to Darren McCarty, whose whack was denied. But Kozlov fired the third rebound past
a defenseless Roy for his 12th goal. With Shanahan off for hooking, Deadmarsh tipped a
Peter Forsberg slapshot past Osgood for his 16th goal. Lefebvre finished off the Wings in
the third by fluttering a shot between Osgood's legs. Osgood appeared to be screened. The
Avalanche improved on their record of 14-1-1 when leading after two periods. Meanwhile,
the Wings fell to 2-17-1 when entering the third period behind. "I thought the effort could
have been a lot stronger in the second half of the game," Nicklas Lidstrom said. Enjoying
the longest win streak in the NHL since the Maple Leafs won 10 in a row to start the 1993
campaign, the Avs are eight points behind Western Conference leader Dallas. They also
moved six points ahead of the Wings for the second seed. "It's a huge win today because it's
a four-point game with the Red Wings," Hartley said. "We obviously want that second spot
in the conference." Since Sandis Ozolinsh returned to the lineup the Avalanche haven't lost.
Ironically, they were last defeated at Joe Louis on Jan. 9 when the Wings won, 3-2. "It's
very important that we stay humble in this," Hartley said, "because obviously every team will
gear up for us and every team will want to stop us."