WASHINGTON — NHL arenas that were open during Patrick Roy’s playing career generally summon echoes for the Avalanche coach, but the Verizon Center is a remembrance of an especially important night for him.
On Oct. 17, 2000, the Avalanche beat the Capitals, 4-3, when Peter Forsberg scored in overtime, helping Roy to pass Terry Sawchuk and become the NHL’s all-time goaltending leader with 448 wins — a record Roy ultimately raised to 551 and held until Martin Brodeur passed it in 2009.
Among other things after the game that night, Roy got a ride on his teammates’ shoulders and a call from Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien.
“Do I remember?” Roy asked after the Avalanche morning skate Monday. “Yes, it was certainly a great moment in my career. … All night, the game, after the game, there were certainly great moments for me. At the same time, now as a coach, coming here, it’s the same kind of approach — coming here to win a hockey game.”
The Monday night game is the opener of a five-game road trip for the Avalanche, and goalie Calvin Pickard, recalled from Lake Erie, met the team in Washington and is scheduled to play Tuesday night at Carolina.
Semyon Varlamov, the former Capitals goalie who on Monday was named the NHL’s second star for the past week, will get his eighth consecutive start against Washington. The Avalanche is planning to stick with its recent lineup, meaning defenseman Zach Redmond will be a healthy scratch for the seventh consecutive game.
Roy said he didn’t have a goaltending plan written in ink for the rest of the trip.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I’m not going to go further than tonight.”
Varlamov was 3-0-0 last week with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage. St. Louis’ David Backes was the No. 1 star and Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau the No. 3 NHL star for the week. In addressing Varlamov’s play, Roy got into the issue of the often staggering number of shots he has been facing.
“He’s been playing really well for us,” Roy said of Varlamov. “We’re certainly going to try to do adapt our defense around him, try to keep opponents on the outside and try to let him see as many shots as possible. We’re a different team than a lot of teams in that we try to protect more. By trying to protect more, we’re not pressuring as fast as maybe other teams, and obviously we’re going to give more shots than other teams.
“But at the same time, we don’t want to give the rebound chances and we don’t want to give slot chances as much as possible. If we do a good job allowing Varly to see pucks, then I think he’ll deal well with those.”
Pickard is 6-6-2 with a 2.21 goals-against and a .934 save percentage. This is his fourth stint with Colorado this season.
Roy emphasized he hasn’t written off veteran backup goalie Reto Berra, sent to Lake Erie, officially on a conditioning assignment — a designation that meant he didn’t have to clear waivers to go down to the AHL. Berra hasn’t played since Dec. 5 and hasn’t played a full game since Nov. 25.
“We haven’t given up on him,” Roy said. “He had a great training camp, he had a good start and played really well. Then for some reason when he got his concussion, when he came back he didn’t play as well. This is where Calvin took over. But you have to give (Berra) a chance, and we will. He’s going to go and play five games in the minors for conditioning. We’ll see how those games are going to go, first of all. After that, we’re going to re-evaluate where we are.
“Right now the urgency for us to win hockey games. The backup goaltending situation for me is not a concern. We believe in Reto and we feel that we have three solid goalies and we just hope that Reto’s game is going to get better.”
After Monday’s game at Washington and Tuesday’s at Carolina, the five-game swing continues at Florida on Thursday, at Tampa Bay on Saturday and at St. Louis on Monday.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
