Avalanche Continue Road Success, Stop Wings

Bill Ranford, the backup Detroit goaltender, ran out of luck and the Colorado Avalanche continued their winning ways on the road, snapping the Red Wings’ playoff unbeaten streak with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night.

The Avalanche, 4-0 on the road in the playoffs, scored on five of their first 23 shots to snap Detroit’s winning streak at 11 games, dating back to last season.

The Red Wings, seeking their third straight Stanley Cup championship, have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 second-round series that continues Thursday at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5 will be Sunday back in Denver.

With recently released POW Christopher Stone watching from the box of Detroit owner Mike Ilitch, the Avalanche got goals from Claude Lemieux, Theoren Fleury, Dale Hunter, Chris Drury and Aaron Miller.

Steve Yzerman, Tomas Holmstrom and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored for the Red Wings.

Ranford, the 1990 NHL playoff MVP with Edmonton, was starting his third straight game in goal in place of Chris Osgood, who is out with a sprained right knee.

Despite playing little since being obtained along with three others before the March 23 trading deadline, Ranford had been remarkably solid during the first two games, including a 4-0 victory in Game 2.

Avalanche 5, Red Wings 3 Detroit

Colorado 2 3 0 - 5

Detroit 1 1 1 - 3

First period-1, Detroit, Yzerman 9 (Holmstrom, Samuelsson), 7;07. 2, Colorado, Lemieux 2 (Forsberg, Sakic), 11:00 (pp). 3, Colorado, Fleury 5 (Ozolinsh, Forsberg), 16:59.

Second period-4, Colorado, Hunter 1 (Kamensky, Roy), 2:50. 5, Colorado, Drury 1 (Miller, Podein), 3:42. 6, Colorado, Miller 1 (Fleury), 5:05. 7, Detroit, Holmstrom 4 (Shanahan, Yzerman), 9:09.

Third period-8, Detroit, Kozlov 4 (Chelios, Brown), 19:25.

Shots on goal-Colorado 15-16-5-36. Detroit 12-14-21-47.Power-play opp.-Colorado 1 of 4; Detroit 1 of 7.Goalies-Colorado, Roy 5-4 (47 shots-44 saves). Detroit, Ranford 2-1 (23-18), Maracle (5:05 second, 13-13).A-19,983 (19,983).

Penguins 4, Maple Leafs 3 Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh just won’t go away - either from the playoffs or the NHL.

Jaromir Jagr scored the tying goal in the third period and Jiri Slegr got the game-winner less than 2 minutes later as the Penguins took the series lead by rallying to beat Toronto.

The Penguins trailed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Jagr, no longer visibly bothered by his lingering groin injury, scored his first goal in three games at 9:03 of the third and Slegr got his first of the playoffs at 10:43. Jagr also had two assists.

With their future in Pittsburgh in doubt beyond this series or this season, the Penguins will take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 Thursday at the Civic Arena.

The victory came only hours after NHL lawyers told a federal judge that an out-of-town buyer has stepped forward to move the bankrupt Penguins if former star Mario Lemieux isn’t successful in his takeover bid.

Toronto 0 3 0 - 3

Pittsburgh 0 2 2 - 4

First period-None.

Second period-1, Toronto, Johnson 2 (D.King, Markov), 8:21. 2, Pittsburgh, Hatcher 2 (Brown, Jagr), 10:42 (pp). 3, Toronto, D.King 1 (Johnson, Cote), 12:19. 4, Pittsburgh, Dollas 1 (Brown, Morozov), 12:45. 5, Toronto, Mair 1 (Domi, K.King), 12:58.

Third period-6, Pittsburgh, Jagr 3 (Brown, Straka), 9:03 (pp). 7, Pittsburgh, Slegr 1 (Kovalev, Jagr), 10:43.

Shots on goal-Toronto 10-13-6-29. Pittsburgh 7-11-3-21.Power-play opp.-Toronto 0 of 4; Pittsburgh 2 of 4.Goalies-Toronto, Joseph 5-4 (21 shots-17 saves), Pittsburgh, Barrasso 6-4 (29-26).A-17,118 (16,958).

Portland may get Penquins

Pittsburgh inched closer to joining Hartford, Winnipeg, Quebec and other cities that lost NHL teams with a new buyer’s offer of $85 million to move the Penguins.

NHL attorney Jeffrey Levitan revealed the offer during a hearing on the league’s request for quick work on the fate of the team, which is in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in 25 years.

The buyer is believed to be Paul Allen, the Seattle billionaire who also owns the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. The Penguins would provide another winter-time tenant for the Rose Garden in Portland.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would not confirm Allen’s bid during a news conference.

“We have not finalized or signed a deal with anyone,” Bettman said. “If there’s speculation that’s a done deal, I think people are getting ahead of themselves.”