Roy, Avalanche Add to Sharks’ Misery

The Colorado Avalanche is playing so well that even an occasional misstep by goalie Patrick Roy is allowable.

Roy surrendered a goal late in the third period, but it was the only mistake Colorado made as the league-leading Avalanche defeated the San Jose Sharks, 2-1, Saturday at San Jose.

Joe Sakic, the NHL’s top scorer, and Milan Hejduk each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche.

“This team is sharp. Everybody is really focused,” Roy said.

The Sharks are winless in their last four games, their worst stretch this season.

Roy made 21 saves for Colorado. Owen Nolan scored in the third period for San Jose.

After the game, the Sharks held a closed-door meeting with Coach Darryl Sutter, who said he was disappointed with the effort of his team.

Edmonton 2, Detroit 1--Mike Comrie scored his first NHL goal and Tommy Salo made 29 saves for the Oilers, who ended the Red Wings’ five-game win streak with a home victory.

Janne Niinimaa also scored for the Oilers, who are 5-3-0 in their last eight and remain one point ahead of the Kings for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Pat Verbeek spoiled Salo’s shutout bid with 2:37 left in the game.

New Jersey 3, Atlanta 2--Petr Sykora scored two goals and Bobby Holik got the game-winner at East Rutherford, N.J., for the Devils, who extended the Thrashers’ winless streak to 10 games.

Holik broke a 2-2 tie midway through the final period. Atlanta got goals from Steve Staios and Yves Sarault.

Toronto 2, Buffalo 0--Curtis Joseph made 28 saves at Toronto for his fifth shutout of the season and 31st of his career.

Shayne Corson and Igor Korolev scored for the Maple Leafs, who won for only the fourth time in 15 games.

Dominik Hasek, who has allowed only three goals in his last four games, made 38 saves for Buffalo.

N.Y Rangers 2, Montreal 2--Xavier Delisle scored his second NHL goal midway through the third period to give the Canadiens a tie at Montreal.

New York failed to win for the 12th consecutive road game.

Montreal’s Brian Savage left with a broken right thumb midway through the first period after he was cross-checked by Rich Pilon. Savage is expected to miss eight weeks.

Philadelphia 5, Florida 3--The Flyers’ Keith Primeau scored two power-play goals in the third period at Philadelphia.

Dan McGillis, Simon Gagne and Daymond Langkow also scored for the Flyers, who ended a two-game losing streak and handed the Panthers their third consecutive defeat. Pavel Bure scored twice and Viktor Kozlov had the other goal for Florida.

The game was marred by a total of 68 penalty minutes, including 52 assessed in the second period when four players from each team received fighting majors.

St. Louis 3, Vancouver 0--Roman Turek emerged from a midseason slump and stopped 27 shots for his fifth shutout to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

The Blues, second in the NHL with 67 points and a 31-9-4-1 record, won consecutive games for the first time this month.

Ottawa 3, Tampa Bay 0--Alexei Yashin scored twice and rookie Jani Hurme made 18 saves at Ottawa for his second NHL shutout.

Tampa Bay has lost nine of its last 10 and six of seven under new Coach John Tortorella.

Around the League

Left wing John LeClair of the Flyers is expected to miss six to eight more weeks because of an infection in his surgically repaired back. LeClair will be fitted with a back brace and get antibiotics to fight what doctors call a “disk space infection,”. . . The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Steve Thomas returned to the lineup after sitting out almost six weeks because of right knee surgery.