Avalanche edge Wings, go up 3-2

DETROIT -- Peter Forsberg scored 6:24 into overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 victory over Detroit on Monday night and a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The defending Stanley Cup champions can eliminate the Red Wings and move a step closer to repeating with a win in Game 6 Wednesday night at home.

Colorado and Detroit played their third overtime game of the series -- the sixth in their postseason rivalry since 1996 -- and the road team won for the sixth time.

Colorado, which was outshot 4-1 in the overtime, became the first team in the series to win consecutive games.

Steven Reinprecht gave Colorado a 1-0 lead -- its fifth in five games -- early in the first period.

The Avalanche's ninth one-goal lead in the series was negated for the eighth time when Steve Yzerman scored in the first minute of the third period.

Then not much happened until Colorado was penalized for having too many men on the ice, which gave the Red Wings a power play with 6:54 left. Patrick Roy made a few saves to ruin Detroit's hopes for a go-ahead goal.

Like Dominik Hasek did earlier in the game, Roy got some help from the metal behind him.

With about 100 seconds left in regulation, Detroit's Brendan Shanahan made a move to fool a defensman and Roy, but his shot from just inside the right circle clanged off the post.

Hasek stopped Forsberg's shot with about 10 seconds left, which ensured there would be a third overtime in four games.

Roy made 26 saves and Hasek turned away 27 shots.

Leafs-Hurricanes: THE CAROLINA HURRICANES HAVE SCORED JUST EIGHT GOALS IN FIVE GAMES, AND YET ARE ONE WIN FROM CLINCHING THEIR FIRST STANLEY CUP FINALS BERTH.

THE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS HAVE SCORED ONLY FIVE TIMES DURING THE SAME STRETCH, BUT STILL BELIEVE THEY CAN RALLY FROM A 3-2 DEFICIT IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS.

BARRING A RADICAL CHANGE IN THIS OFFENSIVELY CHALLENGED SERIES, WHICH RESUMES TONIGHT IN TORONTO, THE ONLY THING THAT MIGHT BE READY TO GIVE IS THE NHL PLAYOFF RECORD BOOK.

THE COMBINED 13 GOALS ARE WELL SHORT OF THE RECORD LOW OF 20 GOALS SCORED IN A SIX-GAME SERIES, MATCHED BY CAROLINA AND NEW JERSEY IN THE FIRST ROUND THIS POSTSEASON. THE LOW FOR A SEVEN-GAME SERIES IS 18, ESTABLISHED BY TORONTO AND DETROIT IN 1945.

-- FROM WIRE REPORTS