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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy gained a milestone and offered up some respect for the
hockey greats he's followed.
|  | | Chris Drury, right, congratulates Avalanche teammate Alex Tanguay on his first-period goal. |
Thanks to Milan Hejduk's goal scored 1:36 into overtime, Roy
became the NHL's third winningest goalie -- passing Tony Esposito on
the career list -- following Colorado's 3-2 win over the Vancouver
Canucks on Sunday night.
While the Avalanche are 4-1 in their last five games, Vancouver
is winless in its last five (0-4-1) games and 1-7-3 in its last 11.
Roy felt honored and humbled as the Avalanche pulled out the win
after squandering a 2-0 third-period lead.
"It is something. Everytime you reach somebody and talk about
him, like Tony Esposito, he had a fantastic career, it makes you
realize what some guys have done in the past," said Roy, who now
has 424 career wins, 10 behind Jacques Plante and 23 behind career
leader Terry Sawchuk.
"It's always nice to go ahead of these guys and just keep
going," said Roy, who is in his 16th NHL season. "I saw maybe the
end of (Esposito's) career. He was a solid goaltender with a good
butterfly (style). He always played the percentages, which is the
same thing I try to do."
Avalanche coach Bob Hartley called it a significant win for both
his team and for Roy.
Not only did Roy reach a milestone, but the Avalanche opened a
three-point lead on the second-place Canucks in the Northwest
Division standings.
"Patrick now is ahead of Tony Esposito, who was a great goalie,
and on our side, this was a hard-fought game," said Hartley, whose
club moved two wins over .500 (15-13-3-1) for the first time in 20
games.
Hejduk scored his team-leading 18th goal. With Canucks
defenseman Greg Hawgood losing his stick, Hejduk got a pass from Chris Drury and barged to the net from the right side, jamming the
puck inside the post.
Alex Tanguay and Shjon Podein also scored for the Avalanche, who
are 5-0-2 in their last seven meetings against the Canucks.
Andrew Cassels and Zenith Komarniski scored third-period goals
for the injury-riddled Canucks, who were missing six regulars
including captain Mark Messier (right knee) and Alexander Mogilny
(back spasms).
Canucks coach Marc Crawford, who was forced to go with six
rookies in his lineup, admitted his club is a little short-staffed.
"We're really asking younger guys to do a great deal and get
quality ice time and get tough assignments against the top-paid
people in the league," said Crawford, who is 0-4-2 against his
former team since taking over the Canucks bench duties last
January.
But Crawford was impressed by how his team battled back.
"We're really proud of being able to come back like that. It's
a nice character-builder for us. And the breaks are going to come
our way," he said.
It was a milestone Roy almost didn't reach against Vancouver,
after he uncharacteristically gave up two third-period goals,
including one to rookie Komarniski, who scored from the center
line.
"The puck curved big time," said Roy, describing the bouncing
shot that snuck past him just inside the right post 17 seconds into
the third period. Roy was still angry at himself when Andrew
Cassels snapped a shot past him five minutes later.
"You wish it never happens, but I kind of lost my focus after
that goal. I was a little upset with myself," said Roy. "But
after that, the guys came out strong. It's a big win for us."
Hartley said it was only fair that the Avalanche bail out their
goalie after the many times Roy has bailed them out.
"So many times he's bailed us out, sometimes the elevator has
to come back," said Hartley, smiling. "But Patrick kept us poised
and came back with some big saves."
The Canucks power-play continued to fizzle, going 0-for-7,
including a two-man advantage that lasted 1:55 in the first period.
The Avalanche were without captain Joe Sakic, who missed his
eighth straight game with a rib cartilage strain.
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NHL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
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Anaheim 4
Atlanta 1
Calgary 2
Chicago 1
Colorado 3
Vancouver 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Milan Hejduk scores the game-winning OT goal.
avi: 685 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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