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  Monday, Dec. 27 9:00pm ET
Sakic registers 1,000th career point
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

DENVER (AP) -- Having missed the past 13 games and 19 of 21 with a rib-cartilage injury, Joe Sakic wasted no time reaching a milestone that had been on hold for more than a month.

Joe Sakic
Joe Sakic wasted no time in registering his 1,000th NHL point. Sakic is the 56th player to reach that plateau.

Sakic scored his 1,000th career point on a second-period assist Monday night, helping the Colorado Avalanche continue their recent dominance over the St. Louis Blues with a 5-1 victory.

Sakic became the 56th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points and the 14th to do it with one organization. Sakic -- who began his NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques, a club that moved to Colorado in 1995 -- has 381 goals and 619 assists in 810 games.

His reaction to the historic feat was totally in character. Rather than get excited, he expressed relief.

"It's nice to get it over with," Sakic said of his assist on Chris Dingman's goal. "I was pretty relieved when Chris put it in the net.

"Obviously, it's one of the bigger goals I'm going to get. Not a lot of guys have done that. And I'm proud of the fact I was able to do it with one team."

Sakic had been stuck at 999 points since scoring a goal on Nov. 23.

"We're all happy for Joe, who has worked so hard for what he has accomplished," Dingman said. "Just to be a part of it is pretty exciting."

Avalanche goalie Marc Denis said the achievement "sent chills down my spine. It's unbelievable. It means two things: You've got to be an awfully good player to reach 1,000 points, and you have to stay in this league awhile and stay healthy."

Colorado coach Bob Hartley said Sakic is "not a player who looks for those things. The team always comes first for Joe Sakic."

Avalanche assistant coach Bryan Trottier, who himself scored 1,425 points in his playing career, said he was proud of Sakic "because he's a terrific athlete, a terrific skill player. He's a joy to be around and a great guy to coach."

Denis had 29 saves. St. Louis' Roman Turek allowed four goals on 16 shots before being replaced by Jamie McLennan midway through the second period.

"I thought we were awful all night," said St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville, whose team dropped its second straight game after a six-game unbeaten streak. "I'm worried about how we are playing since we took the Christmas break off. That was disgraceful -- in all phases."

Colorado now is 6-0-1 against the Blues in the last seven meetings.

"I don't know what the problem is when we play Colorado," Blues wing Scott Young said. "We have a real tough time with them. Last year we couldn't beat them. They score against us, and normally we are a pretty stingy team."

The teams were tied 1-1 after one period. Colorado rookie Alex Tanguay stole the puck from Al MacInnis and beat Turek just left of the crease at 11:45 of the first.

The Blues countered with a power-play goal at 15:18 after Denis was penalized for delay of game for flipping the puck into the stands. Chris Pronger scored from the slot on a rebound of a shot by Pierre Turgeon.

The goal ended the Avalanche's home-shutout streak against St. Louis at 272 minutes, 23 seconds. Turgeon extended his points streak to 12 games.

Chris Drury, Stephane Yelle and Dingman put Colorado ahead 4-1 in the second period. Drury and Yelle scored about two minutes apart.

Then, at 12:03, Sakic, who lost the puck to Young, regained control and fed Dingman from outside the left circle, chasing Turek.

"I got poke-checked," Sakic said. "I got it back and just threw it to the open guy. I didn't even know who it was. It was Chris, and he made a perfect shot."

Adam Foote's power-play goal at 9:24 of the third period made it 5-1.

It was the first time Sakic and Peter Forsberg were active for the same game since the playoffs last spring. Forsberg missed the first 23 games following offseason shoulder surgery.
 


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