Forsberg Emerging as a Force as Avalanche Takes a 2-0 Lead

Peter Forsberg, who did not score in Colorado’s first four playoff games, scored his third goal in as many games--and his third consecutive game-winner--as the Avalanche beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1, Saturday at Colorado to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for Detroit on Monday and Wednesday.

Forsberg and Milan Hejduk each had power-play goals in the first period as Colorado improved to 14-1 in its last 15 games, which includes the final eight games of the regular season.

“I think we played solid [but] we had two lucky bounces in the first period and got two goals out of it,” Forsberg said. “I don’t think that is going to happen every game.

“We expected Detroit to come out and play even better than in Game 1, and they did.”

Tomas Holmstrom broke Detroit’s scoring drought with a goal midway through the third period, but Colorado’s Chris Drury countered with an empty-net score at 19:01.

Colorado’s Patrick Roy had 29 saves, and Detroit’s Chris Osgood had 30. Roy has 116 playoff victories, extending his NHL record.

It was Colorado’s sixth straight playoff victory over the Red Wings, counting the final four games of their second-round series a year ago when the Avalanche rallied from a 2-0 series deficit.

“Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Detroit’s Darren McCarty said. “We won two games here last year, and they bombarded us the next four games. So hopefully we can do that to them.”