Thursday, Mar. 29 9:00pm ET
Avs win franchise-record 50th game
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CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – The powerful Colorado offense managed
just one goal against the Calgary Flames. That was all David
Aebischer needed.
|  | | Avs goalie David Aebischer looks for the puck as Ray Bourque checks the Flames' Jarome Iginla. |
The Swiss rookie made 29 saves for his third shutout, and Chris
Drury scored with 4:39 left to play in the Avalanche's 1-0 victory
Thursday night over the Flames.
"I'm very happy with my game tonight," said Aebischer, who has
won his last five starts. "This was an important two points."
Colorado set a franchise record with its 50th win of the season.
The Avalanche also moved eight points ahead of the Detroit Red
Wings as they look to capture the league's best record. Each team
has five games remaining.
Scoreless through two periods, Drury and Colorado's top-ranked
power play connected at 15:21 of the third with Flames defenseman
Denis Gauthier in the penalty box for roughing.
Taking a pass across from Ray Bourque, Drury ripped a slap shot
from the blue line that goalie Fred Brathwaite deflected with his
blocker. But the puck rolled over him and into the net.
The goal came just 27 seconds after Brathwaite set the Flames
record for consecutive shutout minutes, surpassing the mark set by
Mike Vernon in 1992-93 of 159 minutes and 40 seconds.
"It was one of those nights where we outplayed the best team in
the league, had a ton of chances, but just weren't able to score,"
said Calgary's Craig Conroy, who Aebischer stopped twice on good
scoring chances. "We threw a lot at him but he had one of those
nights where we couldn't sneak one by him."
Colorado (50-14-9-4) has won six of seven and is 14-2-1-2 in its
last 19 games.
Calgary fell to 12-16-9-2 at home and is assured of finishing
below .500 there for just the second time in franchise history.
Aebischer's best stop came with nine minutes left in the third
period against Jarome Iginla, who was on a six-game point streak.
Marc Savard set up the play by firing a quick cross-ice pass to
Iginla, who one-timed a hard slap shot from 15 feet out that
Aebischer somehow stopped as he slid across the crease.
"I saw Iginla winding up so I knew it was going to be a
one-timer and I needed to get across as fast as possible,"
Aebischer said.
After Drury scored, Aebischer preserved the 1-0 lead on a
similar play, stacking the pads to rob Conroy from close in with
under two minutes remaining.
The Avalanche managed just 16 shots on goal.
"It was a tough game," Colorado captain Joe Sakic said. "They
bottled us up, and we weren't very good, but the bottom line is we
found a way to win."
Sakic failed to pick up a point, ending his 10-game point streak
during which he had nine goals and nine assists.
"This type of effort isn't going to cut it in the playoffs,"
he said. "We're going to have to get more from everybody."
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NHL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Calgary Clubhouse
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NY Rangers 6
NY Islanders 4
Toronto 2
Philadelphia 1
Pittsburgh 5
Chicago 2
Montreal 6
Tampa Bay 2
Nashville 4
Phoenix 3
Colorado 1
Calgary 0
Los Angeles 3
Columbus 0
San Jose 7
Anaheim 4
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