Avalanche Stops Stars, Eyes Blackhawks

Patrick Roy stopped 38 shots for his league-leading 38th victory and the Colorado Avalanche clinched home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs with a 2-1 victory Friday night over the Stars at Dallas.

Sandis Ozolinsh had a goal and an assist for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who wrapped up the league’s best record and the top playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

Colorado will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.

“I was really pumped for the game,” Roy said. “It was a big game for us, something you work for all year.”

Trailing, 2-0, Dallas ended Roy’s shutout bid with 12:51 to play on Jere Lehtinen’s power-play rebound.

“Their goaltender won the game for them,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We had a lot of quality chances. He proved tonight why he’s one of the two best goalies in the league.”

The Central Division champion Stars, who began the night one point behind the Avalanche in the conference standings, were defeated at home for the first time since Feb. 12.

Colorado got the only goal of the first period when Peter Forsberg slipped a rebound past Andy Moog at 8:21.

Ozolinsh assisted on Forsberg’s goal, then Ozolinsh added a fluke power-play goal at 10:38 of the second period when he took a slap shot from the left point that hit the body of Dallas defenseman Derian Hatcher and ended up in the net.

Chicago 7, Calgary 3--The Blackhawks gained a playoff spot for the 28th consecutive season, the longest active postseason streak in pro sports, by defeating the Flames at Chicago on Alex Zhamnov’s hat trick.

The Blackhawks will meet the Avalanche in a best-of-seven series scheduled to start Wednesday at Colorado. The teams played a memorable second-round series last May, with four of the six games going to overtime.

The Blackhawks scored five times in the second period--two by Zhamnov and one each by Jeff Shantz, Kevin Miller and Eric Daze. Miller added a third-period goal as Chicago matched its highest-scoring output this season.

Florida 4, Pittsburgh 2--Ray Sheppard and Kirk Muller each had a goal and an assist as the Panthers clinched home ice in the first round of the playoffs with the victory at Miami.

Mario Lemieux, who announced last week he will retire after the season, scored his 50th goal on a penalty shot in the third period for the Penguins.

New Jersey 2, Boston 0--Martin Brodeur had 26 saves for his NHL-high 10th shutout and fourth in his last six starts as the Devils defeated the powerless Bruins at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory gave New Jersey a four-point lead over idle Philadelphia in the race for first place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

The Flyers can take the top spot by winning at Montreal on Saturday and at home Sunday against New Jersey, the Devils’ only remaining game.

Bobby Holik and Dave Andreychuk scored 39 seconds apart early in the second period.

N.Y. Islanders 6, Hartford 4--Claude Lapointe and Robert Reichel each scored twice, including short-handed goals on the same penalty, as the Islanders hurt the Whalers’ playoff chances with the victory at Uniondale, N.Y.

Bryan Smolinski and Travis Green also scored for the Islanders, while Hartford got two goals from Sami Kapanen and one each from Steven Rice and Robert Kron.

The Whalers still have a slim chance to make the playoffs. Ottawa holds the eighth and final playoff spot, followed by Tampa Bay and Hartford. The Whalers could take over by defeating the Lightning at home Sunday.

Tampa Bay 4, N.Y. Rangers 2--Rob Zamuner broke a 2-2 tie with a short-handed goal late in the second period, and the Lightning went on to defeat the Rangers and keep its playoff hopes intact.

Ottawa 3, Detroit 2--A tie-breaking goal from Wade Redden with 2:32 remaining edged the Senators a bit closer to their first playoff appearance as they defeated the Red Wings at Detroit.

Phoenix 6, Edmonton 2--Jeremy Roenick set up two first-period goals and scored his 29th goal of the season with 13 seconds left in the second period as the Coyotes defeated the Oilers at Edmonton.