Forsberg Goes Down but Avalanche Wins

The Colorado Avalanche kept rolling, even with another big name out of the lineup.

Joe Sakic had a goal and two assists, and Peter Forsberg had two first-period assists before injuring his right arm in a 3-1 victory over the Blues on Thursday night at St. Louis.

Forsberg wasn’t on the bench the last two periods but said the injury wasn’t serious, calling it a bruise. The Avalanche’s No. 2 scorer with 86 points could play Saturday at Boston.

“It’s not bad,” Forsberg said. “It’s bruised and was tough to move.”

Forsberg said he was injured just before Milan Hejduk’s power-play goal midway through the first period when he tried to protect the puck and his arm got jammed.

The Avalanche, who lead the NHL with 109 points, have won four in a row and have lost only once (12-1-1-2) in 16 games. They began the game without goalie Patrick Roy, who is day to day with knee tendinitis, and defenseman Rob Blake, who has a sprained knee.

“We’re trying to secure the best possible playoff spot and there’s no sense giving life to anyone,” Coach Bob Hartley said. “We’re going for the jugular.”

Boston 3, Montreal 2--Brian Rolston’s goal at 2:49 of overtime at Boston drew the Bruins within two points of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Nashville 2, Chicago 1--Mark Eaton scored his third goal of the season 1:54 into overtime as the Predators won at Chicago.

Nashville, unbeaten in four games, moved five points behind the Kings for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Detroit 4, Minnesota 2--Kris Draper scored two goals at Detroit as the Red Wings extended their home unbeaten streak to 15 games and rebounded from their last home loss to the Wild on Dec. 27.

Detroit’s Sergei Fedorov earned his 800th career point when he set up Vyacheslav Kozlov for the game’s first goal at 14:28.

Atlanta 2, Tampa Bay 0--Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist, and Milan Hnilicka made 29 saves at Tampa, Fla., to help the Thrashers end a four-game losing streak.

Calgary 3, Philadelphia 1--Marc Savard scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:01 left as the Flames snapped an eight-game winless streak with a victory at Calgary, Canada.

Ottawa 2, San Jose 1--Jani Hurme stopped 32 shots at San Jose as the Senators handed the Sharks, clinging to seventh place in the Western Conference, their fifth consecutive loss.

Around the League

Injured forwards Simon Gagne (dislocated shoulder) and John LeClair (back surgery) were cleared to return to the Philadelphia Flyers, but when they will play again has not been determined. Their status Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leaf will be a game-time decision. . . . Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin, a two-time NHL all-star goalie, was among eight players chosen for the Russian Olympic team. Also selected were right wing Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers, right wing Alexei Kovalev and defenseman Darius Kasparaitis of the Pittsburgh Penguins, center Alexei Yashin of the Ottawa Senators, defenseman Sergei Gonchar of the Washington Capitals, defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich of the Toronto Maple Leafs and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky of the Ducks.