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BOX SCORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A Colorado Avalanche goalie was dominant
and this time it wasn't Patrick Roy.
David Aebischer turned away 20 shots in his first NHL start and
Peter Forsberg had two goals as the Colorado Avalanche remained
unbeaten with a 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on
Wednesday night.
|  | | Colorado's Alex Tanguay beat Columbus goalie Marc Denis to tie the score at 1 in the first period. |
"You just feel happy after your first win ever," Aebischer
said. "I hope there's many more to come."
It was the fifth win in a row for the Avalanche (5-0-2).
Roy watched from the end of the Colorado bench, 24 hours after
becoming the winningest goalie in NHL history with his 448th career
victory in the Avalanche's 4-3 overtime win at Washington.
He received a standing ovation when he was announced to the
crowd of 16,576 early in the second period.
Even after the celebration from Tuesday night's historic win,
the Avalanche still flexed their muscles when they had to.
"We had all the reasons to have a letdown, but we addressed the
issue with the entire team and came up with a total team effort,"
Colorado coach Bob Hartley said.
The Avalanche had more shots in the first two periods (30) than
the Blue Jackets faced in any of their first five games. They
finished with 41 shots.
At the other end, Aebischer didn't need to be Roy-like. Columbus
was outshot by a 2-to-1 margin in each period and seldom put heavy
pressure on the rookie.
"I think I played all right," Aebischer said. "It's tough to
say with not so many shots."
Forsberg broke a 1-1 tie early in the second period. Streaking
down the left side, he beat two defenders then slipped the puck
between the legs of Columbus goalie Marc Denis.
"We got in a little late and we didn't play as well as we
should have in the first period," Forsberg said. "I thought we
played pretty solid."
In the third period, Forsberg added his fifth goal of the season
on a putback after Denis deflected a shot. Forsberg has four of the
Avalanche's seven goals against Columbus this season.
Denis, Roy's backup with the Avalanche last season, lost to his
former team for the second time in five days. Acquired in a
midsummer trade by Columbus, Denis was in goal for Colorado's 3-1
victory in the Avalanche's only home game.
Unlike that game, Columbus was not a factor in the final two
periods.
"The difference was the effort," Denis said. "We were awful
tonight. We got beat by a good team and that's going to happen.
There'll be bumps in the road. But we can't get outworked by
anyone."
Just as in the earlier matchup, the Blue Jackets scored first
only to have Colorado register the rest of the goals. Bruce
Gardiner beat Colorado's Martin Skoula to a loose puck in the
corner and then slipped a pass to Tyler Wright on the right wing.
Wright's wrist shot beat Aebischer on the glove side.
"We had a good first period," Columbus coach Dave King said.
"They started to come on with their top players and all of a
sudden we were back on our heels."
Alex Tanguay pulled the Avalanche even at 1-1. After Forsberg's
first goal, Aaron Miller's slap shot from just inside the blue line
rocketed over Denis' left shoulder before he could get his glove
up, making it 3-1. Dan Hinote added the final goal when he batted
in his own chest-high rebound. Play was delayed while the play was
reviewed.
Columbus made its first appearance at Nationwide Arena after a
three-game road trip that included the franchise's first victory, a
3-2 win at Calgary.
Game notes
Forsberg has goals in the Avalanche's last three games. ...
Columbus remained winless at home in three starts. ... The five
goals matched Colorado's best production of the season, as did its
two power-play goals. ... Hartley said since Roy broke the record,
he intended to rotate Roy and Aebischer in order to rest the
35-year-old veteran.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Columbus Clubhouse
After making history, a relieved Roy rests
RECAPS
Colorado 5
Columbus 1
Carolina 3
Pittsburgh 2
Dallas 2
San Jose 1
Minnesota 6
Tampa Bay 5
NY Rangers 4
Chicago 2
Phoenix 2
Florida 1
Vancouver 4
Calgary 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Alex Tanguay opens the scoring for Colorado.
avi: 548 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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