May 28, 2002 4 min read

DETROIT (AP) – 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.

Like a heavyweight fight, both teams were more cautious than aggressive for the first few minutes of the game.

Detroit got the first shot off 6:37 into the game, then within the next 10 seconds the Avalanche tested Hasek with two shots.

Colorado scored first, just like it did in the first four games of the series.

Forsberg carried the puck along the left boards, spun around, then fed a short pass to Reinprecht, who scored on a wraparound goal just past defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom at 17:11 of the first period.

Reinprecht scored two game-winning goals in the first round against Los Angeles.

Early in the second period, Detroit’s Brett Hull wound up for two slap shots on a power play. The first got past Roy, but trickled to the right of the net. The second, like many Detroit shots, was stopped before it got to Roy.

Moments later, Adam Foote’s shorthanded shot hit the crossbar just above Hasek’s right shoulder. Hasek didn’t need help to stop a scoring chance late in the second period.

The six-time Vezina Trophy winner sprawled out to stop Joe Sakic’s shot and rebound – from his back – with just over two minutes left in the second.

Less than a minute later, Yzerman’s shot hit Roy’s shoulder and fluttered onto the top of the net.

It took a few seconds for Yzerman’s goal – Detroit’s first on the power play since Game 2 – to be ruled a goal 54 seconds into the third period.

Yzerman held the puck in the left corner, then skated toward Roy and flipped a shot that somehow squeezed behind his right knee and the post.

After Yzerman pointed toward the back of the net, a referee signaled it was a goal.

It was Yzerman’s 67th career playoff goal and it tied him with Gordie Howe for the most in Detroit history.

NOTES: The Avalanche scratched left wings Mike Keane and Alex Tanguay from their lineup before the game. Keane missed a second straight game with a rib injury while Tanguay missed his first game of the playoffs with a leg injury. … Detroit and Colorado played one overtime game in the 1996, 1999 and 2000 playoffs.