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Tuesday, Jan. 11 9:00pm ET
Predators can't cool Avs' suddenly hot Forsberg | |||||
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BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- Peter Forsberg, who missed the first 23 games of the season after shoulder surgery and then endured an uncharacteristic eight-game slump, is making up for lost time. Forsberg, who extended his point-scoring streak to nine games, had a goal and three assists and Sandis Ozolinsh batted the puck out of midair for another goal, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-2 victory Tuesday night over the Nashville Predators. During the stretch, Forsberg has four goals and 13 assists -- including 11 points in his last four games. "It's been nice lately to get some points," Forsberg said. "I was struggling there for a while. "I had a great first game coming back (five points against Calgary on Nov. 27), and then I didn't play well at all. It was really hard to get my legs back. I would barely be out there for 40 seconds and get dead tired. Now it feels better and better." Hoping to take advantage of Forsberg's hot hand, Avalanche coach Bob Hartley double-shifted his star forward in the third period. Forsberg responded with a goal and an assist. "Whenever you double-shift someone, it's a gut feeling," Hartley said. "You take a gamble. I thought Peter was skating well and his legs were moving well." Patrick Roy recorded 26 saves for his 427th career win, the most among active goaltenders and third on the NHL career list behind Terry Sawchuk (447) and Jacques Plante (434). Roy nearly scored into an empty net at the end of the game, but his long shot bounced wide off the right goal post. "I've had a few good chances this year," Roy said, "but that was probably the best one I've had." Tomas Vokoun had 17 saves for Nashville, which outshot the Avalanche 28-21. "We outchanced them," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought we had the majority of the chances to score. Patrick Roy came up huge. When it was 1-0, he made three great saves in the second period. He made some more big saves in the final five minutes. "Forsberg had a good game. He was involved in every one of their goals." Chris Dingman's seventh goal gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the first period. Jeff Odgers passed to Forsberg, who carried the puck behind the net and found an open Dingman in the slot at 6:22. With the teams' intensity increasing in the second period, Roy had a pad save off a close-in shot by Sergei Krivokrasov early on and then turned aside two quick shots. Vokoun stopped hard shots by Adam Deadmarsh. Nashville tied it at 15:15 when Randy Robitaille took a pass from Kimmo Timonen and scored from the left circle. Barely two minutes later, the Avalanche reclaimed the lead. Ozolinsh passed to Joe Sakic, whose shot ricocheted off Vokoun into the air and was tapped by Ozolinsh past the goalie at 17:42. "I got pretty lucky on that one," Ozolinsh said. "I just stuck my stick out and just hit it. Probably the next 10 times I'm not going to make that play." At 5:25 of the third, Nashville's Patric Kjellberg made it 2-2 with his 12th goal. Cliff Ronning moved the puck behind the net and hit Kjellberg in the slot. Less than a minute later, however, the Avalanche again countered. Forsberg's pass from the right boards was redirected by Dave Reid, who was stationed in front of the net, at 6:14. Forsberg then carried the puck past midice and scored from the right circle at 16:45. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Nashville Clubhouse Colorado Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 3 Boston 2
Colorado 4
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