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DENVER (AP) – With their recent subpar play, 35-year-old Patrick
Roy and 40-year-old Ray Bourque had prompted whispers that their
sterling careers might be in serious decline.
|  | | Ray Bourque gets there just in time and swats the puck out of mid-air over teammate Patrick Roy. The play was reviewed and ruled no goal by the video judge. |
With one game, the two veterans silenced those critics.
Roy set an NHL record with his 16th career playoff shutout, and
Bourque had a key defensive play as the Colorado Avalanche beat the
Los Angeles Kings 2-0 Saturday to even their Western Conference
semifinal series at 1-1.
Ville Nieminen and Joe Sakic scored goals for top-seeded
Colorado.
Roy, already the NHL's winningest goalie in the regular season
(484) and in the playoffs (126), had been tied for most playoff
shutouts with Clint Benedict of Ottawa and the Montreal Maroons
(1919-28).
"I didn't know until the last series that I was close to the
playoff shutout record," Roy said. "But my focus right now is
mostly on winning. I try not to put too much pressure on myself,
and I don't read the papers."
Roy said Bourque's play in the second period "really helped us
out. If we want a chance to win the Cup, everyone has to make great
plays."
Roy finished with 20 saves. The Kings' Felix Potvin had 26
saves.
"We knew that Patrick would bounce back," Avs coach Bob
Hartley said. "And Ray looked like a 25-year-old. His play was the
turning point of the game."
Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series will be in Los Angeles
on Monday and Wednesday.
"We've played them well at home," Kings coach Andy Murray
said. "We won all of our games against them at home this year, and
last year, too.
"Our opinion is we should be up 2-0. We just don't have enough
guys playing at the level we need them to play. We've got some guys
that we count on that aren't playing good enough right now."
In a scoreless first period, Potvin had several key early stops,
including one on Adam Foote on a partial breakaway.
Penalties against Jon Klemm and Foote gave seventh-seeded Los
Angeles a 5-on-3 advantage for 13 seconds, but the Kings couldn't
capitalize. Roy stopped Philippe Boucher, and Potvin later blocked
Chris Drury's short-range shot.
After a bizarre sequence of plays early in the second period,
Colorado took a 1-0 lead.
Glen Murray's short-handed shot for Los Angeles deflected into
the air off a sprawling Roy and appeared headed into the net, but
Bourque swatted it away with his stick.
While video goal judges consulted replay to determine if the
puck had crossed the goal line, Nieminen scored moments later,
jamming in a rebound of Peter Forsberg's shot at 2:29.
If Murray's goal was allowed, Nieminen's goal wouldn't have
counted. But because the on-ice officials had not ruled Murray's
attempt a goal and because replay was inconclusive, it was
disallowed and Colorado had a 1-0 advantage.
It was the 11th power-play goal allowed by Los Angeles in the
postseason, the most by any team.
"I saw the puck there, and there was nothing else I could do,"
Bourque said. "I couldn't get to it with my hand. I knew it was
close, and I kind of thought I got enough of the puck to keep it
from being a goal, but you're not sure until the call is made.
"It was a huge momentum swing our way. If LA's goal counts,
they're up 1-0."
Glen Murray said his shot "from the side kind of looked in, but
obviously I guess it wasn't. If it's not conclusive, then it's not
a goal."
Andy Murray didn't see replays of the disputed goal, but said,
"It's probably going to be inconclusive because they don't have
the right angle. Our guys on the ice said his (Bourque's) glove was
back and it was in. They ruled it wasn't in, so we have to accept
that. It was quite an important turn of events."
Colorado, which outshot Los Angeles 15-5 in the second period,
failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 advantage for 58 seconds.
Ex-Avalanche forward Adam Deadmarsh hit the crossbar early in
the third period, but Roy remained solid, stopping a hard shot by
Murray through traffic.
At 15:13, Sakic, on a breakaway up the middle, beat Potvin after
defenseman Aaron Miller fell down. It was Sakic's first shot of the
day.
Game notes
Colorado acquired Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht from Los
Angeles on Feb. 21 in exchange for Deadmarsh, Miller, a first-round
draft choice and other considerations. ... Roy had allowed three
goals on the first 12 shots he faced in Game 1. ... The loss
snapped Los Angeles' franchise-record five-game winning streak in
the playoffs. ... The teams split four regular-season meetings,
each winning twice at home.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Los Angeles Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
Kings-Avalanche Series Page
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 3
Buffalo 1
Colorado 2
Los Angeles 0
New Jersey 6
Toronto 5
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Ray Bourque swipes the puck out of mid-air to stop a Kings goal, but the play must be reviewed first.
avi: 1451 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Ville Nieminen's goal counts after the Ray Bourque save is upheld on review.
avi: 1614 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
Joe Sakic skates in and puts the puck topshelf on Felix Potvin for a 2-0 lead.
avi: 1618 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN'
'Cable Modem
 Patrick Roy gained confidence as Game 2 against the Kings went on.
wav: 192 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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