Avs Lose Roy To Groin Injury

After starting 16 consecutive games, Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche will sit out Tuesday night's contest against the Vancouver Canucks with a pulled groin muscle.

Avalanche spokesman Damen Zier said the star goalie is listed as day-to-day and could return as early as Thursday in a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Roy suffered the injury in the third period of Sunday's 1-1 tie with the Dallas Stars. The injury will keep Roy from playing against former coach Marc Crawford, who guided the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 1996 and returns Tuesday as coach of the Canucks.

Backup Craig Billington will make his first start since Jan. 10. Rookie Marc Denis was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League to serve as Billington's backup.

Prior to his current string of starts, Roy missed eight games with a sprained left knee and back spasms. He is 21-14-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .919 save percentage this season.

The 33-year-old Roy has 401 victories and 99 playoff victories. He is a three-time Stanley Cup winner, leading the Montreal Canadiens to the title in 1986 and 1993 before doing the same for the Avalanche in 1996. Roy also leads active goaltenders with 46 shutouts and is one of just 12 netminders to appear in 700 games.

Roy, who agreed to a multi-year contract extension on Jan. 25, is an eight-time All-Star and a three-time Vezina Trophy winner. He set a franchise record last season by appearing in 65 games for the Avalanche, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers after blowing a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Roy, who is fifth on the all-time victories list, spent his first 11-plus seasons with Montreal before orchestrating a trade to the Avalanche in December 1995.

With a 29-27-21 mark, Colorado leads the Northwest Division by 13 points over Edmonton. The Avalanche are winless in their past five games and have played three consecutive ties.

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