NEW YORK, 27 March 2004 — Manny Legace made 34 saves and Henrik Zetterberg picked up a goal and an assist to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in a showdown between the Western Conference’s two top teams on Thursday.
Detroit was outshot 35-23 in Denver but Legace shone as the Red Wings moved on to 101 points, seven ahead of the Avalanche in the West. Legace made three stops from Colorado’s Joe Sakic in the third period before he lost his shutout attempt with 32 seconds left on a goal by Steve Konowalchuk. Tomas Holmstrom opened the scoring for the Red Wings at 9:52 of the opening period. Colorado having gone 2-6-4-1 in its last 13 games. The Avalanche are 0-4-1 in their last five games.
In Boston, Ed Belfour made 33 saves for his eighth shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs blanked the Bruins 3-0.
In Montreal, Daniel Alfredsson picked up two goals and an assist and Patrick Lalime made 29 stops to steer the Ottawa Senators past the Canadiens 4-0.
In Tampa Bay, Brad Richards scored with 4:58 to go as the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning overcame the New Jersey Devils 2-1.
In Philadelphia, goalie Wade Dubielewicz came off the bench for the injured Garth Snow and made 14 saves to lead the New York Islanders past the Flyers 4-2.
In Raleigh, Josef Vasicek tallied with 11:51 left as the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Florida Panthers 3-2.
In New York, Andreas Johansson notched the game-winner in the third period as the Nashville Predators recorded a 4-2 victory over the Rangers.
In St. Louis, Chris Pronger claimed three assists to guide the Blues to a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
In Chicago, Alexandre Daigle scored twice as the Minnesota Wild set a franchise record for goals in one game to rout the Blackhawks 8-2.
In San Jose, Vincent Damphousse netted with 24 seconds left to earn the Sharks a 3-2 triumph over the Calgary Flames.
