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DENVER (AP) -- Philippe Sauve made 27 saves to record his first NHL victory, then scoffed at the suggestion there might be a goaltender controversy in Colorado.



Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk scored third-period goals, Peter Forsberg posted his 500th career assist and the Avalanche rallied to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Thursday night.

After regular goalie David Aebischer gave up four goals on 14 shots in the first two periods of Colorado's previous game, the rookie Sauve replaced him and stopped 10 shots in the third period and overtime of a 4-4 tie with Minnesota.

Sauve was rewarded with the start Thursday night but downplayed its significance.

"There is not going to be no goaltending controversy at all," he said. "Whenever I get in the net, I just want to do the best I can.

"Abby is the guy here, and whenever I'm called upon, I just want to do my job and help the team. I don't think I did that too well in my first two games."

Avalanche coach Tony Granato said Sauve "was very solid. He's going to play a lot of games for us this year, and David is going to play a lot of games. We're lucky that we have two guys we can rely on.

"As the season goes on, there may be stretches where Phil might see more ice time than once every two or three weeks."



Sean Burke had 29 saves for the Coyotes, whose winless streak was extended to nine games (0-6-3).

Sakic scored his third goal of the season at 2:27 of the final period after Teemu Selanne's shot ricocheted to Steve Konowalchuk, who passed to Sakic at the edge of the crease.

It was Sakic's 512th career goal, moving him into a tie for 28th in NHL history with Buffalo's Gilbert Perreault.

Hejduk got the clincher on a power play at 11:28. Forsberg passed from behind the net to Hejduk on the edge of the left circle, and Hejduk's one-timer beat Burke for his ninth goal.

"You saw two elite players make the difference in the game," Phoenix coach Bob Francis said. "It was a great play by Forsberg and Hejduk. We've seen that before. They worked that short side play and they worked it to perfection."

Forsberg said it was especially nice that his milestone assist came on a game-winner.

"To be honest, I didn't even think about it being 500 until you said it now," he said. "It's good to get it out of the way."

Colorado got three players back from injury, including Forsberg, who missed three games because of a strained groin. But forward Paul Kariya missed his eighth straight game with a sprained right wrist, and defenseman Adam Foote was out with a strained hamstring.

Phoenix outshot Colorado 9-7 in a scoreless first period in which both goaltenders excelled during the first power plays they faced.

The Coyotes' Chris Gratton got the lone goal of the second period, taking a pass from Radoslav Suchy and scoring from the slot at 11:32. Gratton's goal came just after Colorado's Karlis Skrastins exited the penalty box.

Earlier in the period, Colorado had a five-on-three advantage for two minutes after Ossi Vaananen and Ladislav Nagy went off at the same time. But the Avalanche failed to convert, getting only one shot.

Burke stopped all 18 shots he faced in the period.


Game notes
A crowd of 18,007 was Colorado's 400th consecutive sellout, extending its NHL record. The streak dates to November 1995. ... Also returning from injury for Colorado were defenseman Chris McAllister, who had missed six games with a sprained knee, and forward Brad Larsen, who missed four games with a groin injury. ... Phoenix's winless streak is its longest since 1997-98, when it went winless in 10 straight games (0-8-2). ... Phoenix hadn't played since Saturday.

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