Avalanche snap Detroit's winning run

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-17 13:31

DETROIT: Jordan Leopold scored on a penalty shot and Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves as the Colorado Avalanche held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Monday, snapping the Stanley Cup champions' five-game home unbeaten run.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the third period with the Red Wings applying pressure, Leopold notched the game decider beating Detroit netminder Chris Osgood with a stinging back after Colorado were awarded a penalty shot.

It was a rare win for the Avalanche in the Motor City, after they lost all four meetings last year and were swept from Western conference semifinals by the Red Wings on their march to the Stanley Cup.

"(Detroit) have some skill and work as hard as anyone, they made us work that's for sure," said Raycroft, after making only his fifth start of the season.

"We got a few breaks and got out of it with two. For playing one game in the last month I felt real sharp."

The Red Wings found themselves in an early hole when Wojtek Wolski scored just 67 seconds after the opening faceoff and Paul Stastny added a powerplay tally three minutes later to put the visitors in front 2-0.

Detroit had a chance to quickly get back into the contest when the Avalanche handed them a two-man advantage for 65 seconds but the NHL's top powerplay could not convert.

The Red Wings finally broke through midway in the second, Tomas Holmstrom jabbing home a loose puck during a goalmouth scramble to trim the deficit to 2-1.

But the Avalanche restored their two-goal cushion early in the third on Leopold's penalty marker then weathered a late rally by the Wings.

Agencies