One Goal Enough to Lift Avs over Wings

A lone first period goal by Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay was enough to give Colorado the win over Detroit Thursday in the first game of a home-and-home series between the bitter rivals.

Tanguay one-timed a bouncing puck past a scrambling Curtis Joseph with 2:10 left in the opening period. Rob Blake fired a shot that bounced off the back boards and out the other side of the goal, where Tanguay picked up the puck and flipped it into the net as Joseph dove across the crease.

The first period tally was the only goal of the game.

The blanking of Detroit was Colorado netminder Patrick Roy’s sixty-fourth career shutout. He is now tied with Toronto goalie Ed Belfour for the lead among active goaltenders.

It was the third shutout for Roy in his last six games and the first time he had kept the Red Wings scoreless in his career.

“He’s been great,” Avalanche head coach Tony Granato said. “He’s a man on a mission to prove he’s the best; still the best.”

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Brett Hull was held scoreless for the sixth-straight game. His next goal will be the seven hundredth of his career… Chris Chelios missed his sixth-straight game with a leg injury.