Aebischer Has Big Hand in Avalanche’s Victory

Life without Patrick Roy has not been too difficult for the Colorado Avalanche.

David Aebischer made 28 saves to lift the Avalanche to a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at Detroit.

Alex Tanguay scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period off a rebound and Joe Sakic had a power-play goal midway through the third to put Colorado ahead, 4-2.

Aebischer made two spectacular saves against Brett Hull in the third -- one before Sakic’s 23rd goal and another after it.

On the first stop, he sprawled several feet toward the right circle to get his stick on Hull’s shot. On the other, Aebischer dove from the top of the crease to the left post and his stick deflected Hull’s blast.

He said throwing his body and stick at the second shot was a desperate move to stop the puck.

“Luckily, it hit me,” Aebischer said.

Aebischer, drafted 161st overall in 1997 by Colorado, replaced Roy, who announced his retirement on May 28 after 19 record-setting seasons.

Aebischer is 25-11-7 this season with four shutouts. He started the season with 32 victories overall.

Colorado has lost only two games -- both in overtime, one to Detroit -- in its last 12.

The Avalanche moved four points ahead of the Red Wings in the Western Conference after earning a point in their 15th consecutive road game.

“We’re just very confident on the road,” Sakic said. “We like playing at sea level. We can’t breathe at home.”

Steve Yzerman and Jiri Fischer scored for the Red Wings, whose season-long unbeaten streak ended at six games.

Buffalo 6, Toronto 4 -- Mika Noronen became the eighth NHL goalie to score a goal during the Sabres’ victory at Toronto.

Noronen was credited with a goal when Toronto’s Robert Reichel accidentally put the puck into an empty net.

“It’s pretty funny,” Noronen said. “I guess I was the last guy to touch the puck. I don’t know. It was fun.”

Noronen replaced Martin Biron in the second period after Biron gave up three goals on 18 shots.

Noronen is the first goalie to score since San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov did it against Vancouver on March 10, 2002.

New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur and former Philadelphia goalie Ron Hextall have each scored twice, both once in the regular season and once in the playoffs.

Philadelphia 6, New York Rangers 2 -- Sean Burke, who was acquired Monday in a trade with Phoenix, stopped 25 shots as the Flyers won their fifth in a row at Philadelphia.

The victory was No. 300 for Burke. He became the 20th goalie to reach the milestone.

Phoenix 3, Dallas 2 -- Daymond Langkow and Ladislav Nagy had a goal and an assist apiece at Glendale, Ariz., as the Coyotes ended an eight-game winless streak.

Pierre Turgeon and Brenden Morrow had power-play goals for the Stars, who lost for the first time after a 6-0-2 run.

San Jose 2, Columbus 1 -- Marco Sturm scored with 16.1 seconds left in overtime on the Sharks’ franchise-record 50th shot at Columbus, Ohio.

It was San Jose’s first overtime victory after going 0-5-11 in their first 16. Sturm’s goal also ended the Sharks’ four-game road losing skid.

Ottawa 5, Montreal 2 -- Zdeno Chara had a goal and two assists to lead the Senators at Ottawa.

Tampa Bay 3, Florida 2 -- Martin St. Louis scored his league-leading seventh short-handed goal to lead the Lightning at Tampa, Fla.

St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 2 -- Eric Boguniecki scored with 2:54 left in overtime for the Blues at St. Louis. It was the Penguins’ 14th loss in a row.

New Jersey 4, Carolina 1 -- Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta set each other up for first-period goals as the Devils ended a three-game losing streak at East Rutherford, N.Y.

Chicago 2, Boston 1 -- Tuomo Ruutu knocked in his rebound four minutes into overtime at Chicago to extend the Blackhawks’ winning streak to a season-high three games.