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BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- In a game matching two bitter rivals and featuring a playoff atmosphere, it seemed only natural for the outcome to be decided by a daring gamble.
Kirk Maltby intercepted a pass and scored a short-handed goal at 6:51 of the third period, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 win Saturday over the Colorado Avalanche.
|  | | Sergei Fedorov had a busy first period, scoring twice for the Red Wings. |
Sergei Fedorov scored twice in the first period for the Wings.
The victory overshadowed the 400th career goal by Colorado's Ray Bourque, the first NHL defenseman to reach that milestone.
Colorado's Chris Drury scored on a penalty shot to tie it 3-3 at 5:25 of the third period, but Maltby countered barely a minute later to end Colorado's seven-game unbeaten streak and give Detroit a 4-0 record against the Avalanche this season.
Maltby darted in front of Bourque's pass from the right corner and beat Patrick Roy from the slot.
"Doug Brown forced Bourque to move the puck, and I was in the right spot," Maltby said. "I was cheating to the side. Brown had a good forecheck on Bourque, and I was hoping that would happen.
"If he had made the pass, Doug and I get beat, and they are going down the ice 3-on-2. It was a bit of a lucky play. Sometimes breaks work your way."
Bourque said he tried to shovel the puck to teammate Sandis Ozolinsh. "I didn't see the second man (Maltby) coming on him," Bourque said. "Ozolinsh had no time to do anything with it. It was a bad play on my part and a big goal to give up."
As for his milestone goal, Bourque said, "I got a good shot and (Adam) Deadmarsh was in front of the net. It caught the top corner. I was nice, but I would have felt a lot better with a win.
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SCORING DEFENSEMEN
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Player
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Goals
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Ray Bourque
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400
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Paul Coffey
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393
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Phil Housley
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312
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Denis Potvin
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310
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Al MacInnis
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298
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Larry Murphy
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282
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Bobby Orr
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270
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Doug Mohns
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248
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"That's a lot of goals for a defenseman. I never thought I would get there (to 400) this year. I needed five when I came over here, and I got two in the first game."
It was Bourque's fifth goal -- all on power plays -- in six games since he was acquired from Boston on March 6.
Ken Wregget had 35 saves for Detroit. Roy, with 18 saves, remained at 439 career wins, eight shy of Terry Sawchuk's NHL record of 447.
"I thought we did a good job of penalty-killing," Detroit coach Scotty Bowman said, "and our goalie made some nice plays."
Bowman, however, was upset with the officiating, insisting that the NHL should have assigned its elite referees for ABC's first hockey telecast of the season.
"We're trying to get a (network television) contract, and we get stuck with that," Bowman said. "The league has got to take a better stand on assigning referees for games like this. We never get the top five (referees). It's not fair to both teams."
Colorado coach Bob Hartley credited Detroit for creating traffic in front of the net, making it difficult for Roy to follow the puck. "Patrick had a hard time seeing many shots," Hartley said, "but this is a team loss."
Fedorov started the scoring with his 22nd goal at 9:59 of the first after taking a pass along the left boards from Vyacheslav Kozlov.
With Detroit's Todd Gill and Martin Lapointe in the penalty box, Colorado had a 5-on-3 advantage for 44 seconds. But the Avalanche needed only 12 seconds as Bourque scored No. 400 with a slap shot from the left circle through Deadmarsh's screen at 13:45.
Fedorov scored again on a power play at 18:36 from the left circle, but Colorado's Milan Hejduk answered 22 seconds later with his 30th goal from the right circle.
Steve Yzerman's 32nd goal, on a power play at 14:53, was the only score of the second period.
Drury, pulled down on a breakaway by Chris Chelios, tied it when his penalty shot deflected out of Wregget's glove into the net. It was the 15th successful penalty shot in 38 opportunities this season in the NHL.
Fedorov had seven points in four games against Colorado this season.
Nicklas Lidstrom, who leads NHL defensemen in scoring this season, had three assists for Detroit.
Detroit's Larry Murphy played in his 1,549th game, tying Alex Delvecchio for second place in the NHL; only Gordie Howe (1,767) has played in more.
Joe Sakic's assist on Bourque's goal extended his points streak to nine games.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
Bowman: NHL must assign best refs to big TV games
RECAPS
Boston 3
Pittsburgh 2
Dallas 2
Chicago 2
Detroit 4
Colorado 3
NY Rangers 3
Philadelphia 2
Montreal 3
Carolina 2
Florida 4
NY Islanders 2
Atlanta 4
Toronto 1
Buffalo 5
Calgary 1
Vancouver 6
Ottawa 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kirk Maltby scores the short-handed game-winner. (Courtesy: ABC)
avi: 700 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ray Bourque scores his 400th career goal. (Courtesy: ABC)
avi: 675 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Sergei Fedorov fires a shot passed Patrick Roy. (Courtesy: ABC)
avi: 410 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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