DENVER (Ticker) -- While things looked bad in the early going, the Boston Bruins righted the ship and shut down one of the NHL's most potent offenses.
Felix Potvin made 26 saves and Joe Thornton and Glen Murray each collected three assists as the Bruins overcame an early deficit and posted a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Entering the game with a four-game unbeaten streak, the Bruins fell into a hole 73 seconds into the contest as Alex Tanguay scored his second goal of the season. But Brian Rolston netted the first of four unanswered tallies midway through the first period to knot the game.
Defenseman Jeff Jillson put Boston ahead for good with 45 seconds left in the first and Michal Grosek scored his first goal in 39 games late in the second to make it 3-1.
Mike Knuble put the finishing touches on the Bruins' fourth win in as many games against Western Conference foes with his fourth goal midway through the third.
After Colorado scored on its second shot of the game, Potvin slammed the door, stopping six shots in the remainder of the first period, 10 in the second and nine in the third.
"I thought after the first goal, we shut the down pretty good," Potvin said. "They had a couple of chances, but with that many players, they're going to have them. You just have to make sure you save them and you'll have a good chance."
David Aebischer made 30 saves for the Avalanche, who lost for the third time in four contests.
"The way we're playing isn't too good," Aebischer said. "The last two or three games, we've made a lot of mistakes. The whole team has to play better and play smarter."
"We're very disappointed," Sakic said. "We've got a lot of skill here, but when we don't play together and don't play smart and simple, we're going to get beat, and that's what happened tonight."
Milan Hejduk grabbed a loose puck off the right wing boards and made his way to the slot before skating in alone on Potvin. After the Boston goaltender got his stick on Hejduk's backhander, the puck hit Tanguay in front and made its way over the goal line to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
With nine minutes to go in the first, P.J. Axelsson made a pass to rookie Patrice Bergeron, who set up Rolston from behind the net to draw the Bruins even.
Potvin was put in several difficult situations minutes later, as Sakic hit the crossbar and Paul Kariya shot wide on separate breakaway chances.
"That one time, the puck kind of dipped on me," Potvin said of Sakic's shot. "In some games they go in and some they don't and tonight, they didn't go in."
"It certainly helps when (Sakic) doesn't score," Boston first-year coach Mike Sullivan said. "That really could have taken the wind out of our sails."
As time ran down in the period, Jillson fired a one-timer from the right faceoff circle to put Boston ahead, 2-1.
Aebischer attempted to help his teammates late in the second by wrapping the puck around the right wing boards. But the Swiss goalie gave it right to Thornton, who passed to Murray in front.
Murray was unable to pull the trigger, but Grosek found the loose puck and lifted it over Aebischer's glove with two seconds remaining in the period for a two-goal advantage.
"It's one of those plays where you fire it in front of the net," Thornton said. "I saw Glen and it just happened to pop over to Grosek, and he makes a great shot. It's one of those plays that happens one in a hundred times."
"He was all over the place," Sullivan said of Thornton. "I thought he was great. We've challenged Joe almost daily on this (road) trip to be the best player and he's a guy that so gifted when he works and battles and competes."
Colorado watched its comeback hopes slip away when Sakic coughed up the puck in his own zone 10 1/2 minutes into the third. Murray pounced on it and passed to Thornton, whose feed was tapped in by Knuble on the doorstep.
"Everything kind of came together tonight," Thornton said. "Our line has been working hard. Obviously, when you're playing against great players like Joe and Teemu (Selanne) and guys like that, you try to elevate your game a little bit. And I think that's what we did tonight."
"The mistakes that we're making have to be corrected," Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. "The mistakes that we're making are mistakes that a good hockey team, the team that we expect ourselves to be, shouldn't be making."
