Blake Lifts Avalanche With Overtime Goal

Rob Blake scored a power-play goal 1:41 into overtime, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night at Denver.

Blake’s goal, shot from the right point, came after a goaltender-interference penalty against Andreas Johansson at 19:42 of the third period. Blake assisted on Colorado’s first two goals.

Johansson and Mike York scored just 1:45 apart late in the third period to draw the Rangers into a tie and force overtime.

Colorado backup goalie David Aebischer had 35 saves, and New York’s Mike Richter made 29.

Ranger center Eric Lindros missed his fourth straight game because of his seventh concussion since March 1998.

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Vancouver 5, Montreal 2--Matt Cooke scored twice and Brent Sopel added a goal and an assist at Vancouver, Canada.

Craig River and Mike Ribeiro scored for Montreal, which has lost four straight games (0-3-0-1).

Phoenix 2, Atlanta 1--Ladislav Nagy had a goal and an assist at Phoenix as the Coyotes won their season-high fourth straight game.

Coach Bob Francis registered his 92nd victory with the Coyotes--second in franchise history to John Paddock’s 106.

Ottawa 4, Washington 1--Magnus Arvedson scored twice to break a 24-game goal drought as the Senators won at Ottawa.

Arvedson, who hadn’t scored since Oct. 30, beat goalie Olaf Kolzig to open the scoring with 6:50 left in the first period. His second goal of the game--and sixth of the season--gave the Senators a three-goal lead with 5:52 left in the second.

Toronto 2, Boston 1--Curtis Joseph made 21 saves at Boston for his third win this season over the Bruins.

The Maple Leafs have 52 points to lead the Eastern Conference and give Coach Pat Quinn the right to coach the North American All-Star team.

Joseph had his scoreless streak of 194 minutes, 21 seconds end when Glen Murray scored his 17th goal.

Murray has five goals and five assists in his last five games.

Nashville 4, New Jersey 3--Martin Erat and Denis Arkhipov scored early in the first period, and Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves as the Predators earned a rare road victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

St. Louis 4, Columbus 2--Scott Mellanby and Scott Young each scored, and Al MacInnis had a goal and an assist to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

The Blue Jackets managed only 11 shots and are winless in six road games. Columbus fell to 4-14-2 on the road this season.

New York Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 2--On the one-year anniversary of his trade to the Islanders, Jason Blake had a goal and an assist at Uniondale, N.Y.

Blake, traded from the Kings for a conditional draft pick, has a goal in three consecutive games.

Calgary 3, Buffalo 1--Craig Conroy tied his career high with his 14th goal and added an assist for the Flames at Calgary, Canada.