MONTREAL -- There was so much more to the Canadiens 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night than Patrick Roys return to Montreal. Chris Conte . A game that had the 21,273 in the Bell Centre seats rocking even before the puck was dropped saw NHL trade deadline addition Thomas Vanek score his first three goals as a Canadien. It saw plugger Travis Moen score a spin-around goal worthy of a first-line star. And it had a spectacular performance from Colorado rookie Nathan MacKinnon, who dazzled the crowd and the Canadiens defence for an entire shift before scoring his 23rd goal of the season in the first period. On the downside, Colorado defenceman John Mitchell was taken to hospital for tests after crashing back-first into the end boards at 8:02 of the second period. Roy had no update on his condition after the game other than that it was back injury. The game started with the spotlight on Roy, but players from both teams made sure it was game to remember as well. "I thought both teams played really well and tonight the puck bounced their way," said Roy, the former Canadiens goaltending great who was on his first trip to Montreal as an NHL coach. There was no pre-game ceremony for the player once known as Saint Patrick, but he didnt need one. The fans gave him a long, rousing ovation when he was shown on the scoreboard during the national anthems. Some wondered how the Bell Centre crowd would react to Roy, who won Stanley Cups for the Canadiens in 1986 and 1993 but later demanded a trade and was on the outs with the organization until 2008 when they retired his No. 33 jersey. "I thought they showed lot of class," said Roy. "It was nice. They didnt make a big thing and thats the way I wanted it." Brandon Prust, who left the game late in the first period with an apparent shoulder injury, returned to score a goal and set up Moens tally for Montreal (38-25-7), which won its third game in a row. Trailing by two goals, Roy pulled goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere with 2:20 left to play, but Dale Weise scored into the empty net. Max Talbot and Jamie McGinn also had goals for the Avalanche (44-20-5), which lost for only the third time in 10 games. The Avs end a three-game road trip Wednesday night in Winnipeg. Vanek had a ton of chances since he was acquired from the New York Islanders, who had got him early in the season from the Buffalo Sabres. He finally broke through against Colorado. "It was frustrating," he said. "I think Im pretty emotional out there and sometimes I show my frustration too much. "But its been a tough year moving around, trying to get your first goal with Buffalo and then a new team and then here. But I thought we were generating chances and it just didnt go in. Getting that first goal was nice. I was really pressing the last few games." The Avalanche players clearly wanted to win for Roy, who has taken them from last to fourth in the Western Conference in one season and who is likely to be named the NHLs coach of the year. Roys team responded with a strong opening period. No. 1 overall draft pick MacKinnon put on a show as he ragged the puck in the Montreal zone for most of an entire shift. Then he got the puck alone in front of the net off a strange deflection and deked Carey Price at 18:03. He got 20:55 of ice time and, other than Vanek, was perhaps the best player in the game. Even Montreal coach Michel Therrien was impressed. "For an 18-year-old kid... I had the luxury of coaching great ones at 18 and 19 years old (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) and hes right there," said Therrien. "Hes a special player." Roy knew his players wanted to get him the victory, even though he told them to concentrate on getting the two points. "(Ryan) OReilly was hurt and I knew he wanted to play," said Roy. "(Paul) Stastny came back (from a back injury) tonight. "I knew what they were doing. I have a lot of respect for my players and I appreciate it, but I didnt want them to feel the pressure of winning a game for their coach. I wanted them to win for the team. I dont want to put myself ahead of the team. I didnt need a special night." The Canadiens bounced back in the second, as Vanek tapped one into an open goal after Desharnais lured Giguere out of his net on a rush at 7:44. Talbot was parked at the doorstep to knock in a Matt Duchene feed at 9:33, but Moen tied the score at 10:21 with his second of the year and his first since Nov. 22. Prust dove to chip the puck into the middle, where Moen caught it, then did a spin-around move to beat Giguere with a backhand. Giguere took a holding the stick penalty and Vanek made him pay as he converted a Max Pacioretty feed on a power play for the game-winner at 14:45. Montreal was on the power play again when Vanek reached behind his back to deflect an Alexei Emelin shot in at 17:40 for the hat-trick. Only two hats were thrown on the ice. Montreal fans have never been big on the hat-throwing thing. Weise added an empty-netter at 19:00, giving each member of the checking line a goal. "We were energized tonight," said Prust. "We knew it was going to be a big game. We knew they would come hard to get Patty the win, so were glad we spoiled it." Notes: It was Roys first game against Montreal since he was a player on Nov. 6, 2001. Roy opted to put Montreal native Giguere as No. 1 Semyon Varlamov sat out. Roy said Reto Berra will start in goal in Winnipeg. . . Stastny returned from after missing four games with a back injury. . . The Avs went into the game with the NHLs fourth best power play and Montreal with the fourth best penalty kill. Jon Bostic .J. -- A couple of comeback kids helped the New York Giants continue their winning streak. Lamarr Houston . - Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade had 23 points apiece, and the Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-95 on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonvilles Cecil Shorts best season as an NFL pass receiver could be coming to a premature end. The Jaguars third-year pro has been hampered with a groin injury for much of the season. He played through the pain and had started the first 13 games, but in Sundays game against Buffalo, was listed as an inactive. On Monday, Shorts said the smartest thing to do was to shut it down for this year and look ahead to next season. "Probably," Shorts said with a laugh. "Thats the best thing. We have an idea of what were going to do. I dont want to speak on it right now but thats probably the best thing for it, honestly. "Im just trying to stay positive. If the decision is made when we talk about it that Im done for the year, then thats the case." Shorts was not able to practice much on Friday. He said he ran four or five plays and it wasnt good. He later confirmed that he would need to have surgery to repair the injured area. "I didnt feel any power or explosiveness in there. It was very tough to do anything and there was a whole lot of pain," he said. "I knew then that I couldnt play on Sunday." On Monday, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley stopped short of saying the team would place Shorts on injured reserve in order to have the surgery and get an early start on the rehab process. "Cecil is not improving," Bradley said. General manager "Dave (Caldwell) and I will sit down and discuss this with Cecil later on today or tomorrow where hes at. "I think we have more concern with the injury now. When Cecil talks to us as coaches and what hes feeling, hes such a strong competitor and wants to play, but the longer were around him, you can sense when its really bothering him. And I think hes at that point right now." Shorts has caught a career-best 66 passes this season, surpassing his previous best of 55 a year ago. He has 777 yards, behind only the 971 yards he had last year. He was one of four Jaguars starters who missed Sundays game with the Bills. Leading ruusher Maurice Jones-Drew (hamstring), offensive guard Will Rackley (concussion) and strong safety Johnathan Cyprien were also on the inactive list for the Buffalo game. Robbie Gould. Bradley indicated that all three would be re-evaluated on Wednesday to determine their status for the rest of the week and for Sundays home season-finale against Tennessee. The injury-plagued Jaguars added two more names to their list from Sundays game with Buffalo. Guard Mike Brewster who took Rackleys place in the lineup, fractured his left ankle and is out for the rest of the season. In addition, linebacker Russell Allen who has started all but one game this year, suffered a concussion and will now follow NFL concussion protocol. Bradley lamented the teams poor play in the second quarter in Sundays 27-20 loss to the Bills. He cited the fact thats when the team gave up 17 of Buffalos 27 points, 102 of the Bills 198 yards rushing, the Jaguars had nine of their 14 missed tackles and allowed four of their 10 explosive plays. "A lot of stats like that showed up that (tells us) we did not play very well in the second quarter," Bradley said. "Now, coming out of it, we tightened up some things starting in the third quarter with better tackling, and we were better with our techniques. They had a combined 58 yards rushing, 70 yards passing and seven points in the third and fourth quarters." Offensively, Bradley harped on missed opportunities to score. Rookie running back Denard Robinson fumbled at the goal line just before he was to complete a 25-yard run into the end zone early in the third quarter. The Jaguars also had a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line with four minutes left in the game and trailing by seven points. But two plays later, Chad Henne threw an interception in the end zone. Shorts groin injury prevented him from playing in Sundays 27-20 Jaguars loss to Buffalo, and could cause him to miss the teams final two games against Tennessee and Indianapolis. ___ Online: http://pro32.ap.org wholesale nfl jerseys ' ' '
