Roy bounces back from early mistake to stick Flyers

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Game Information

Arena: Wachovia Center Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Referees: DaveJackson, MichaelMcGeough Linesmen: TimNowak, RayScapinello

Attendance: 19,744 (101.3% full)

Team Stat Comparison
212	Goals	234
169	Goals Against	192
62	Power Play Goals	39
41	Power Play Goals Allowed	40
7	Shorthanded Goals	8
7	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	10
1007	Penalty Minutes	1242
12	Average Penalty Minutes	15

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			COL	PHI
14:58		Keith Primeau Unassisted	0	1
2ND PERIOD			COL	PHI
3:22		Radim Vrbata Assists: Rob Blake, Joe Sakic	1	1
3RD PERIOD			COL	PHI
15:24		Ville Nieminen Assists: Greg de Vries, Brian Willsie	2	1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Patrick Roy lost his stick. He never lost his cool.

AP

Partick Roy, right, makes a save as Rob Blake, center, tries to keep Philadelphia's Rick Tocchet from the puck.

Ville Nieminen scored the go-ahead goal with 4:36 left, and Roy stopped 36 shots, leading the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Roy, a fierce competitor, allowed a fluke goal to Keith Primeau in the first period, when he came way out of the crease to clear the puck and Primeau intercepted the pass. But Roy didn't let it affect his performance the rest of the game.

"Before, that goal would've ticked me off for 30 minutes," said Roy, who threw his stick at the puck after realizing that his shot went right to Primeau. "But I relaxed, and focused on making the next save.

"Playing with Ray Bourque really helped. We sat down once and he told me, 'You got to relax a bit. You're a winner. Just go out and have fun."'

The Flyers, winless in their last four games, have lost four in a row in the First Union Center for the first time since the arena opened in 1996. It's the first time they've lost four in a row at home since the 1989-90 season.

Colorado has won five of six, and remains in second place in the Western Conference.

Philadelphia and Boston are tied for first place in the East, two points ahead of Toronto. The Maple Leafs played Dallas later Saturday.

"This game was not a setback," Flyers coach Bill Barber said. "There were a lot of positives even though we came up short."

Despite getting just one shot in the third period to that point, Colorado took a 2-1 lead when a shot by Greg De Vries deflected off Nieminen and past goalie Brian Boucher.

Brian Willsie originally was credited with the goal, which appeared to hit more than one player.

Radim Vrbata's 13th goal early in the second tied it at 1. Boucher stopped Rob Blake's blast from the right point, but couldn't control the rebound, which went right to Vrbata.

The Flyers took a 1-0 lead when Primeau caught Roy's clearing attempt, put the puck down, eluded a defenseman and Roy's thrown stick and easily scored his 14th goal with 5:02 left in the first.

The Flyers, 5-for-54 on the power play in their last 22 games, were 0-for-4 on the man advantage, despite getting 15 shots.

Roy stoned Primeau, who came streaking in down the right side, on a power-play early in the third. He also made a pad save and glove save on two backhanders by John LeClair during Philadelphia's first power-play chance in the second.

"Patrick is the best goalie in history with the numbers to prove it and he showed it," Flyers forward Mark Recchi said.

Roy was shaken up after taking a knee to the head from Jeremy Roenick early in the third, and fell flat on the ice while play continued. He scurried back up as Chris Therien shot wide of the net, and remained in the game.

"It was another most valuable performance," Avs coach Bob Hartley said. "Patrick has been like that all year. He is giving us a chance to win."

Game notes
Colorado was without center Stephane Yelle (bruised left shoulder) and defenseman Adam Foote (finger). Right wing Milan Hejduk missed his seventh consecutive game because of an abdominal strain. ... Joe Sakic, Chris Drury and Alex Tanguay combined for just one of Colorado's 18 shots. ... The Flyers beat the Avalanche 5-2 in Colorado on Dec. 29. ... Primeau's goal was his first in six games. ... Colorado, which entered with the third-best power-play on the road, didn't get a shot in their two opportunities with the man advantage. ... Philadelphia has just one power-play goal in the last 10 games. ... The Flyers are 4-5-1 since the Olympic break.