Roy Posts Victory As Montreal Cheers His Heralded Return

Goaltender Patrick Roy made a triumphant return to the city he once ruled as the Colorado Avalanche scored four second-period goals to beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-3 Wednesday night.

Roy was cheered and booed depending on what happened in the game. By the end of the third period, fans where chanting his name and giving him a standing ovation.

The Canadiens’ faithful was less kind to Montreal goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who was booed after each of the six goals he let in.

Montreal’s fans cheered both Montreal’s goals and Colorado’s barrage on Thibault and Jose Theodore, who had to come on in relief midway through the second period.

A sellout crowd at the Molson Centre was full of electricity as the city’s sports sections had been full of hype all week over Roy’s return.

Roy led Montreal to two Stanley Cups in 1986 and 1993 and was a three-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie in his decade with the Canadiens.

But he was traded from Montreal in December 1995 after a run-in with Montreal coach Mario Tremblay. Roy was left in the nets for nine goals in a game against Detroit. When he was finally pulled, Roy glared at Tremblay, then leaned over to team president Ronald Corey and told him he had played his last game for the Canadiens.

Four days later, Roy was traded to the Avalanche, in the deal that brought Thibault to Montreal. Roy went on to lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup last spring.

Flyers sue radio station

The Philadelphia Flyers are suing the radio station that broadcasts their games, saying a talk show host made defamatory remarks about team captain Eric Lindros.

The lawsuit was filed against the Infinity Broadcasting Corp. of Philadelphia (WIP Radio) and talk show host Craig Carton.

The Flyers say Carton’s allegations that Lindros missed a Feb. 15-16 weekend series against the Pittsburgh Penguins because of a hangover are “a continuation of a pattern of reckless sensationalism.”

Elsewhere on the ice

At Hartford, Conn., Hartford centers Keith Primeau and Andrew Cassels were credited with goals that Calgary players put into their own net in the Whalers’ 2-0 win.

Whalers goaltender Sean Burke made 28 saves for his third shutout of season and 13th lifetime.

At Buffalo, N.Y., Derek Plante had a goal and two assists as the Buffalo Sabres moved further ahead of slumping Pittsburgh with a 4-2 victory over the Penguins.

Buffalo has an 11-point lead in the Northeast Division over Pittsburgh, which played without injured stars Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

At Philadelphia, Dave Andreychuk had a short-handed goal and an assist as the surging New Jersey Devils scored three goals in the second period to beat Philadelphia 3-1 and stop goaltender Garth Snow’s 16-game unbeaten streak.

New Jersey has just one loss in its last 19 games (11-1-7) to climb within four points of Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia.

At Miami, the Phoenix Coyotes got a short-handed goal from Jeremy Roenick and a power-play goal from Mike Gartner en route to a 3-0 victory over the slumping Florida Panthers.