Roy Joins Legend at Top of Win List

The chase is over. Patrick Roy is second to none among NHL goaltenders.

Roy tied Terry Sawchuk’s career victory record Saturday night, making 14 saves for his 447th win as the Colorado Avalanche beat the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1, at Denver.

“It’s a bit different than I thought it would be,” Roy said. “I thought I’d be jumping in the air and up and down. I know it’s tied now, and I still have a game to win to pass, but it’s a great feeling to reach such a great athlete and a great hockey player that Terry Sawchuk was.”

Roy, who was 19 when he won his first NHL game for Montreal on Feb. 23, 1985, raised his arms over his head and was swarmed by his teammates as time expired. Defenseman Adam Foote handed him the historic puck.

Playing his 16th season, Roy reached 447 victories considerably faster than Sawchuk, who retired in 1970. Roy reached the mark in his 846th game, while Sawchuk needed 968.

Roy also has the NHL record with 121 career playoff victories.

“I think you can compare Patrick to Babe Ruth, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Michael Jordan and those guys,” Colorado Coach Bob Hartley said. “He’s a world class athlete.”

After making history against a team without one, Roy can break the record Tuesday night when Colorado plays at Washington.

Roy’s milestone victory came at the expense of former protege Marc Denis, Colorado’s top draft pick in 1995. Denis, who had a poster of Roy in his room growing up, spent last year with the Avalanche before being traded in June.

Denis made 30 saves but gave up a power-play goal to Jon Klemm that broke a 1-1 tie 4:03 into the third period. Peter Forsberg added a goal that deflected off the skate of Columbus defenseman Petteri Nummelin with 3:58 remaining.

Nashville 2, Carolina 1--Bill Houlder scored the first short-handed goal of his 604-game career to give the Predators a victory over the Hurricanes at Nashville.

Houlder, a defenseman whose career began with Washington in the 1987-88 season, snapped a 1-1 tie at 2:53 of the third period with his first goal of the season. The victory put Nashville two games over .500 (3-1-0) for the first time in the franchise’s three-year history.

Ottawa 4, Toronto 0--Patrick Lalime stopped 26 shots as the Senators shut out the Maple Leafs at Toronto. Ottawa has three consecutive wins over Stanley Cup contenders, defeating the defending champion New Jersey Devils along with a victory over the Dallas Stars, last season’s Western Conference champions.

Magnus Arvedson, Martin Havlat, Rob Zamuner and Sami Salo scored for the Senators. Lalime, who stopped 30 shots Friday against New Jersey, recorded the seventh shutout of his career.

Vancouver 4, Buffalo 0--Felix Potvin stopped 27 shots to earn his first win in four starts this season as the Canucks blanked the Sabres at Vancouver.

Potvin made his best saves of the night with Vancouver on the power play, stopping Doug Gilmour on a short-handed breakaway and robbing Stu Barnes with a skate save on a two-on-one break.

Montreal 5, Chicago 4--Dainius Zubrus completed his first career hat trick by scoring the game-tying goal with 24 seconds left in the third period, and Patrice Brisebois scored at 2:39 of overtime to give the Canadiens a win over the Blackhawks at Montreal.

Brisebois put a shot past Blackhawk goalie Jocelyn Thibault as Montreal raised its record to 2-3, including two wins at home.

Phoenix 6, Philadelphia 3--Keith Tkachuk had two of the Coyotes’ three power-play goals, and Mike Sullivan and Juha Ylonen each scored short-handed goals in the win at Phoenix.

Landon Wilson also scored for Phoenix (3-1-0), which sealed the win on Jyrki Lumme’s empty-net goal.

San Jose 5, Boston 2--Marco Sturm scored two goals and Vincent Damphousse recorded his 1,000 career point in leading the Sharks at San Jose.

Damphousse recorded an assist on Sturm’s short-handed goal in the first period. The point gave the center 368 goals and 632 assists in his 14-year career.

Dallas 3, Washington 0--Ed Belfour recorded his first shutout of the season and the 50th of his career and Jamie Langenbrunner and Mike Modano each had a goal and an assist at Dallas.

Calgary 2, New York Islanders 0--Cory Stillman had a goal and an assist and Fred Brathwaite stopped 25 shots as the Flames recorded their first win and spoiled the Islanders’ home opener.