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Friday, May 31
Updated: June 1, 12:55 AM ET
 
Record holder doesn't look it in getting drilled

Associated Press

DETROIT -- Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy's Game 7 luck ran out Friday night.

Patrick Roy
Roy

The goaltender who has won more regular-season and playoff games than any other goalie in history was pulled 6:27 into the second period of Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals after giving up six goals on 16 shots. The Red Wings beat Colorado 7-0.

Detroit will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Finals, which begin Tuesday.

Roy had been 4-0 with a 0.50 goals-against average and two shutouts in his last four Game 7s. The last two were shutouts in the first and second rounds of the playoffs this year against Los Angeles and San Jose.

Roy is 6-6 overall in Game 7s, but 0-5 on the road.

``I'm 6-1 at home. But it's tough on the road for Game 7, when you're playing against a very good team like Detroit,'' Roy said. ``And they deserve a lot of credit for their performance.''

Roy allowed goals on the first two shots he faced, three on the first four and four on the first six as Detroit raced out to a 4-0 lead 12:51 into the game Friday night.

It was the first time that he has been pulled in 12 career Game 7s.

He was replaced by backup David Aebischer after Fredrik Olausson's power-play goal at 6:27 of the second period. Brett Hull had scored 4:41 into the second period to make the score 5-0.

``Bob (Colorado coach Bob Hartley) asked me after the fourth goal, when I went to the bench to get some water, he asked me, `Do you want to come out?''' Roy said. ``I said, `No. I'm staying in.' I want to be part of the team. I wanted to be in there in the bumpy times. ... I wanted to fight with them as long as I could. But after the sixth one, that was it.''

A rout at the hands of the Red Wings is the reason Roy became a member of the Avalanche.

While he was still with the Montreal Canadiens and in goal in December 1995, Detroit defeated Montreal 11-1 and scored nine of the goals on Roy. The goaltender was insulted that then-Canadiens' coach Mario Tremblay didn't pull him.

After the ninth goal, Roy skated to the Montreal bench and told team president Ron Corey that he would never play another game for the Canadiens.

Roy was traded to Colorado a few days later.

Red Wing coach Scotty Bowman said he knew the trade would happen.

``I knew the next day after (the game), they were going to trade him,'' Bowman said. ``I said this could hurt us in the Western Conference. It hurt us until now, until we got ahold of Dominik (Hasek).''

Roy led Colorado to the 1996 Stanley Cup as it defeated Detroit in the Western Conference finals.

After the Red Wings beat Roy and the Avalanche in the 1997 Western Conference finals on the way to winning the Stanley Cup, the Avalanche eliminated Detroit in the second round in 1999 and 2000. Colorado won the Stanley Cup again last season.

It was Hasek's fifth shutout of the playoffs, which set an NHL record for most shutouts in a playoff season.

``I didn't have time to feel bad for (Roy),'' Hasek said. ``I was too focused on what I had to do.''

It was Hasek's first Game 7 victory after two defeats.

Prime-time player
Two goals in the first period Friday night gave Tomas Holmstrom seven goals in 18 playoff games after scoring only eight goals in 69 regular-season games.

Tomas Holmstrom
Holmstrom

But that's not unusual.

Holmstrom had 61 career goals in 400 regular-season games. But he has 22 goals in 66 Stanley Cup playoff games.

Holmstrom scored seven goals, along with 12 assists, in 22 games during the 1998 playoffs when the Red Wings won their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

``I don't know, I can't really explain it,'' Holmstrom said when asked about his playoff success. ``I'm happy for it. It's a great feeling to get going in the playoffs.''

Robitaille breaks through
In his 150th career playoff game, Luc Robitaille had a goal and two assists, after managing only five points in Detroit's first 17 playoff games this season.

``I'm looking to win the Cup. That's what I came here for,'' said Robitaille, who reached the Stanley Cup finals with the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. ``This team, we play as a team. I'm learning more and more from a guy like Steve Yzerman.

``It doesn't matter who scored or who does what, it's all about winning. It's about playing as a team and that's the reason things are working the way they are.''

Full circle
Pete Cusimano, who along his brother Jimmy started the Detroit tradition of throwing octopi onto the ice at Red Wing playoff games in 1952, was at the game Friday night. And when an octopus was thrown onto the ice just before the game began, Cusimano went out and picked it up. Building manager and Zamboni driver Al Sabotka usually picks up the octopi.

Game notes
Colorado left wings Mike Keane and Alex Tanguay returned to action Friday night. Keane had missed three games with a rib injury and Tanguay two games with a leg injury. But Avalanche center Stephane Yelle was out of the lineup after leaving the game Wednesday night after taking a check by Duchesne. ... Going into the game Friday night, the last Stanley Cup playoff goal scored by Colorado's Darius Kasparaitis came May 10, 2001, when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. That goal came against Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres in overtime and eliminated the current Detroit goaltender and his team from the second round of the playoffs. ... Friday night was the 150th playoff game of Robitaille's career. ... Colorado defensemen Rob Blake played his 100th career playoff game.

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