Avalanche Looks at Home Against Pittsburgh, 3-1

While missing two of its top offensive players and its No. 1 goalie, the Colorado Avalanche still didn’t miss a beat.

Despite having Peter Forsberg and Theo Fleury out of the lineup because of injuries, the Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1, Sunday in one of the toughest NHL arenas for a visitor.

Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Claude Lemieux scored in the third period for the Avalanche. It was Pittsburgh’s first home loss since Jan. 26, ending a 9-0-2 streak.

Both teams were without key players. Colorado goalie Patrick Roy had the flu. Forsberg, the Avalanche’s leading scorer with 76 points, has an elbow injury and Fleury is out with a knee injury.

Pittsburgh goalie Tom Barrasso missed his third game because of a broken wrist. The Penguins’ top two defensemen were also out. Kevin Hatcher has a broken foot and Darius Kasparaitis a strained right knee.

N.Y. Rangers 3, Boston 1--Mike Richter made 37 saves at Boston as the Rangers boosted their playoff hopes by moving to within two points of the Bruins for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers extended their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1), all compiled since Wayne Gretzky was sidelined with a neck injury on March 26.

Dallas 4, St. Louis 3--Jim Carey, making his first start for the Blues since being signed on March 1, was seeking his first NHL victory since he played for Boston and beat Edmonton, 2-1, on Oct. 21, 1997.

Instead, Dallas improved to 10-1-2 in its last 13 games and St. Louis had its club-record six-game road winning streak snapped despite outshooting the Stars, 34-22.

New Jersey 4, N.Y. Islanders 2--The loss marked the first time the Islanders failed to win a game at home against the Devils’ franchise in the 25 years of that team’s existence, including its years in Kansas City as the Scouts, and Denver, as the original Colorado Rockies.

Philadelphia 1, Buffalo 1--Valeri Zelepukin broke a scoreless tie midway through the third period at Buffalo, but the Flyers gave up a late goal to Darryl Shannon as their winless streak was extended to seven games (0-5-2).

Phoenix 4, Nashville 3--Keith Tkachuk scored two of his three goals in the first period at Phoenix to help the Coyotes snap a four-game losing streak. The Predators are eight points behind San Jose Sharks for the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot.

Chicago 2, Vancouver 2--Adrian Aucoin’s 16th goal of the season--third among NHL defensemen--in the third period gave the Canucks the tie and snapped their three-game home losing streak.