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  Sunday, Mar. 12 8:00pm ET
Avs bring Roy within nine of Sawchuk
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

DENVER (AP) -- The old guys are providing some youthful energy for the revived Colorado Avalanche.

Joe Sakic and Dave Reid -- a pair of 30-somethings -- each had a goal as the Colorado Avalanche won their fifth straight game, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 on Sunday night.

Chris Drury, Ulf Samuelsson
Colorado's Chris Drury, left, and Philadelphia's Ulf Samuelsson had a shoving match at the end of the first period.
Colorado improved to 3-0 since acquiring veterans Ray Bourque (39) and Dave Andreychuk (36) from the Boston Bruins last Monday.

"I don't know if it's a direct result of us coming here, but this team hasn't lost," Andreychuk said. "We added a little bit of a spark. You can see in a lot of our younger players. They're jumping on the puck. That's a good sign."

No one has thrived more than Sakic in the past two weeks. Stuck on 11 goals Feb. 27, Sakic has a six-game goal streak, scoring 10 times with four assists in that span.

"Joe's flying," Reid said. "He's got a lot of jump. He started getting a couple goals and that confidence kicks in. It's tough to think that Joe Sakic needs any confidence, but when Joe's confidence is at a high level, it's tough stopping him."

Milan Hejduk had the other goal for Colorado, which opened a four-point lead over Edmonton in the Northwest Division. Philadelphia remained six points behind first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic.

"We were awful," Flyers forward Rick Tocchet said. "There shouldn't be any reason for this. We were awful."

Patrick Roy, yet another member of the over-30 club, has been in goal throughout Colorado's winning streak. He made 14 saves to move within nine victories of Terry Sawchuk's NHL record of 447.

Colorado has 12 games remaining, and Roy could play in every one if the Avalanche are still trying to improve their playoff position.

He has received plenty of offensive support in the past two weeks. After scoring eight goals during a five-game winless stretch, the Avalanche have scored 24 times during their winning streak.

"It's not a tough team to come into," Bourque said. "It's a very talented team. It's deep in a lot of areas. I've come here and tried to work hard and do the job, and things have gone pretty well so far."

It took Colorado 20 minutes to get going against the Flyers. Hejduk tied it 25 seconds into the second period when he slipped behind the Philadelphia defense and converted a centering pass from Sandis Ozolinsh.

Sakic put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 midway through the period when he skated into the Philadelphia zone and used Hejduk's screen to beat Brian Boucher on a wrist shot from the slot.

Reid made it 3-1 on an improbable goal 1:51 into the third. With Eric Lindros trailing him, Reid skated past the goal line and flipped a shot backward toward Boucher. The puck deflected off Lindros' stick, hit the goalie in the middle of the back and bounced into the net.

"They were shooting at me from everywhere," Boucher said. "It was one of the weirdest goals I've seen. But that is the way it has been. It seems like all the strange ones happen to me."

The unlikely goal was just part of Philadelphia's problem. In addition to a dismal performance by Lindros, the Flyers -- who have the league's top power play -- went 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Philadelphia also was outshot 31-15, including 11-2 in the third period.

"This was a frustrating game for us," said John LeClair. "Our power play was totally ineffective. We didn't give ourselves many good scoring chances."

Bourque did not score in his first home game for the Avalanche, but surely added to the Flyers' frustration. Philadelphia reportedly was Bourque's first choice, but Boston shipped the 39-year-old defenseman out of the Eastern Conference.

"I knew that Philly was trying to get my services," he said. "That was one team I wouldn't mind going to at all. If I was going to go anywhere in the East, that would have been the spot, but I'm enjoying it very much here."

Bourque's strong attachment to the Bruins was evident by his uniform pants, which have the Boston logo on the right leg. He is still waiting for his new Colorado pants and gloves.

Philadelphia took its only lead at 9:09 of the first period when Jody Hull beat Roy over the right shoulder. The Flyers lost for the first time in 27 games (23-1-3) when leading after one.
 


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RECAPS
Carolina 5
Atlanta 1

Buffalo 4
NY Islanders 2

Nashville 4
Edmonton 3

Dallas 4
St. Louis 2

Chicago 4
Tampa Bay 1

Colorado 3
Philadelphia 1

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Dave Reid beats Eric Lindros and capitalizes on the opportunity.
avi: 915 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Joe Sakic gets the puck by Brian Boucher to secure the lead.
avi: 911 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Jody Hull beats Patrick Roy to take an early lead.
avi: 728 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1