Avalanche Rolls on Seven Unanswered Goals

Peter Forsberg had three goals and three assists as the Colorado Avalanche exploded for seven goals in the final 22 minutes to stun the Florida Panthers, 7-5, Wednesday night at Sunrise, Fla.

Forsberg’s unassisted goal with 1:31 left capped a four-goal outburst in the final five minutes as the Avalanche roared back from a 5-0 deficit that included Pavel Bure’s second hat trick of the season and 11th of his career.

Adam Deadmarsh, Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk also scored during the Avalanche’s final flurry, in which Colorado scored four goals on its final eight shots. Claude Lemieux also scored as Colorado remained unbeaten in its last 10 road games (8-0-2).

Bure, who has 13 goals in 11 games since arriving in Florida, sat out the third period after complaining of soreness in his right knee, which caused him to miss eight games last month.

Carolina 2, Boston 1--Martin Gelinas had a goal and an assist at Greensboro, N.C., as the Hurricanes snapped the Bruins’ five-game unbeaten streak.

The victory gave the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes a four-game home unbeaten streak despite their continued struggles on the power play.

Edmonton 5, Buffalo 3--Boris Mironov and Bill Guerin each scored twice at Buffalo, N.Y., as the Oilers beat the Sabres to give goaltender Steve Passmore his first NHL victory.

Passmore, starting in place of Bob Essensa, made 29 saves.

New Jersey 5, Toronto 2--Jason Arnott scored two third-period goals as the Devils overcame a two-goal deficit to hand the Maple Leafs their first loss in four games at the Air Canada Centre.

Maple Leaf center Alyn McCauley was reportedly conscious and had movement in all of his extremities after being taken from the ice on a stretcher after being checked hard into the boards by Devil defenseman Sheldon Souray early in the third period.

McCauley appeared to lose consciousness and lay motionless on the ice for several minutes.

Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 4--Jaromir Jagr capped a four-point night with a third-period goal at Pittsburgh as the Penguins tied the Canadiens, but lost two of their best players to injuries in the first period.

Pittsburgh’s nine-game home winning streak ended, two short of the franchise record set in 1991.

Penguin goalie Tom Barrasso left after seven minutes because of a bruised right hand and Martin Straka departed after scoring his 30th goal because of a bruised shoulder.

San Jose 4, Vancouver 3--Backup goaltender Steve Shields made 28 saves and Stephane Mattteau and Bill Houlder scored third-period goals to lead the Sharks past the slumping Canucks at Vancouver.

The Canucks have gone 1-5-2 in their last eight games.

Around the League

Detroit Red Wing forward Sergei Fedorov was suspended for five games without pay by the NHL for slashing the New York Islanders’ Zdeno Chara during Saturday’s game. Fedorov will lose $386,178 in pay and will be eligible to return March 17 against Phoenix. . . . The Dallas Stars placed right wing Brett Hull on the injured list because of a strained hamstring. Hull is expected to miss at least two weeks. . . . William Davidson, owner of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, completed his purchase of the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning and the lease for Tampa’s Ice Palace for a reported $110 million. Pending approval from the NHL Board of Governors, Davidson will acquire the team from Art Williams, who had bought the franchise last May for $117 million. . . . Former Pittsburgh star Mario Lemieux said he expects to submit a plan to buy the Penguins at a March 19 hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bernard Markovitz.