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BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- At first glance, the Colorado Avalanche look like an average club leading an average Northwest Division.
|  | | Colorado's Brian Rolston celebrates his third period goal with Martin Skoula, left, and Greg de Vries. |
But Colorado posted its ninth road win of the season -- tying for
tops in the NHL -- after Monday night's come-from-behind 4-2 victory
over the Carolina Hurricanes.
So far, 23 of the team's 35 games have been on the road, meaning
the Avalanche could be a dangerous team the second half of the
season.
"We have a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup. Nobody
ever wins the Stanley Cup in December," said Brian Rolston, who
has two game-winning goals against Carolina since being acquired
from New Jersey in November.
"We just want to go out there and win games right now. This is
a team with a lot of talent and great goaltending. I have been here
for a couple months now and that's what I see in our team."
Rolston poked in a rebound with 5:27 left and Sandis Ozolinsh
added a pair of goals in Colorado's three-goal third period rally.
"It was a good win for everyone," Colorado coach Bob Hartley
said. "We did a good job of frustrating their best players,
keeping the puck on the outside."
Colorado won for only the third time in 14 games when trailing
after two periods and snapped a three-game winless streak. Peter
Forsberg iced it with an unassisted-breakaway goal with 1:34 left.
The Hurricanes fell to 0-6-2 in their last eight games against
Colorado, last beating them Feb. 6, 1996.
"That's a team if you give them an opportunity they are going
to take advantage of it and that's exactly what they did,"
Carolina's Bates Battaglia said.
Carolina took a 2-1 lead into the third period before Ozolinsh
scored with 12:43 left to tie it, and Rolston netted his eighth of
the season after Arturs Irbe had stopped a close-in shot by Adam
Deadmarsh.
"That was one of the easier goals that I scored in my career,"
Rolston said of the open net he faced. "We were working hard down
low a little bit and Sean Hill had fallen down."
Ozolinsh, the NHL's top-scoring defenseman with 28 points,
scored his eighth and ninth goals from the slot, both times joining
the rush and beating Irbe up high.
"They scored a couple of goals with late guys coming in and
it's our responsibility to play better defensively as a five-man
unit," said Carolina defenseman Glen Wesley.
Sami Kapanen broke an eight-game scoreless streak with a
second-period goal as Carolina led 2-1 before Colorado's
third-period rally.
The Hurricanes fell behind for the 11th time in 12 games when
Ozolinsh scored on Irbe's stick side in the first.
Ozolinsh's eighth of the season came after the Hurricanes wasted
a five-minute boarding penalty against Deadmarsh. Hill took a scary
head-first spill into the boards after a hit from Deadmarsh and was
prone on the ice for several minutes. However, Hill returned
without missing a shift.
Deadmarsh's hit will likely be reviewed by the NHL.
Then, for the third game in a row, Carolina heated it up in the
second period.
Kapanen poked a rebound shot from Paul Ranheim past third-string
goaltender Rick Tabaracci before Gary Roberts scored his sixth of
the season from the left circle less than seven minutes later for a
2-1 lead.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Colorado Clubhouse
Carolina Clubhouse
RECAPS
Colorado 4
Carolina 2
Toronto 6
Florida 4
Montreal 5
Pittsburgh 1
Detroit 4
San Jose 3
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Sandis Ozolinsh scores for the Avalanche.
avi: 1010 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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