Detroit Victory Triggers Hostility

Boos and debris rained down on the ice. This wasn’t the ending Colorado’s fans wanted in a matchup of the NHL’s two best teams and biggest rivals.

The Avalanche wasn’t too excited about it either.

Brett Hull scored 57 seconds into overtime after two Colorado players were hit with penalties at the end of regulation, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win over the Avalanche on Thursday in Denver.

“It was a good game all the way,” Colorado’s Steve Konowalchuk said. “It’s unfortunate it had to end that way.”

Detroit had a two-man advantage to start overtime after Konowalchuk and Adam Foote were called for simultaneous four-minute high-sticking penalties in the final 1.6 seconds.

Normally, NHL overtimes are played four on four, but in this case the Red Wings were given a five-on-three edge to begin the period.

The crowd booed throughout the overtime and started throwing bottles and cups on the ice after Hull’s hard shot from the top of the right circle went in over David Aebischer’s right shoulder.

“They may have been a little misfortunate to go five on three in overtime, but we’ve got a couple of guys bleeding in here to warrant it,” said Detroit’s Ray Whitney, who scored his 200th career goal in the second period.

The Avalanche and Red Wings have won five of the last eight Stanley Cup titles and have met in the playoffs three times in five seasons.

They’ve also been two of the league’s best teams most of this season; Colorado entered with a league-leading 72 points, and Detroit was tied for second just two behind.

Toronto 5, Ottawa 4 -- The Maple Leafs erased a four-goal deficit and beat the host Senators on Owen Nolan’s goal with 30 seconds left in overtime. Nolan slapped a shot from the top of the faceoff circle to the right of goaltender Patrick Lalime.

Mats Sundin’s goal with 5:03 remaining in the third period tied it, 4-4.

Ottawa lost leading scorer Marian Hossa when he was hit in the face by Ken Klee’s shot and bled heavily. Hossa was helped off the ice and didn’t return. He pulled himself out of Sunday’s All-Star game because of a cut above the eye that required nine stitches.

Vancouver 4, New Jersey 0 -- Brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin set up goals for each other, and the Canucks avoided a winless tour of the New York metropolitan area with a victory over the Devils.

Vancouver has won six of eight, but the losses came this week against the Rangers and Islanders.

San Jose 5, Phoenix 0 -- All-Star Patrick Marleau scored his team-leading 23rd goal as the Sharks won their fourth home game in a row.

St. Louis 2, Calgary 1 -- The Blues ended a winless streak at eight games as Scott Mellanby’s goal with 4:15 remaining lifted them past the host Flames.

Tampa Bay 5, Nashville 2 -- Pavel Kubina, Dan Boyle and Ben Clymer scored second-period goals, and Cory Stillman added three assists, leading the visiting Lightning over the Predators.

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 1 -- Antero Niittymaki had 20 saves in the second start of his career, helping the Flyers beat the host Thrashers.

Simon Gagne, Mark Recchi, Sami Kapanen and Tony Amonte scored in the second period for the Flyers, 5-0-1 in their last six road games.

Montreal 2, N.Y. Islanders 1 -- Rookie Michael Ryder scored the winning goal midway into the third period, lifting the host Canadiens over the Islanders. Ryder leads NHL rookies with 39 points.

Boston 6, Buffalo 2 -- The visiting Bruins won their fifth game in a row, as Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist.

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The Mighty Ducks reassigned forwards Chris Kunitz, Casey Hankinson and Cam Severson and defenseman Chris Armstrong to their minor league affiliate in Cincinnati.

Kunitz will be recalled after playing in the AHL All-Star game in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Monday, Duck officials said.