Cujo blanks Avs

NHL teams

"It's special anytime you get a shutout," Joseph said. "They're pretty tough to come by. We limited their great players, limited their chances, that's what you have to do. You can't let those guys have too many good chances. They're gonna score."

Cujo extended his shutout streak against Colorado to three games dating back to playoffs las spring when then-Oiler Joseph shutout the Avalanche in the last two games in the Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Steve Sullivan and Mats Sundin scored and Steve Thomas had a goal and an assist for the Leafs.

"This was a really important win," Thomas said. "We didn't want it to go to four in a row. We have to win some games in our building to make it more difficult for the team coming in here."

The Avs continue struggling as they fell to 3-7-1.

"This is the worst start since I've been here," said Peter Forsberg. "We just have to get things going and hope we can play better next time."

Patrick Roy at the Avs net stopped 25 shots but seemed struggling at times as he fell to 1-6-1.

"They played better than us. They worked harder than us," Roy said. "I thought we would be ready for this game, but I was wrong."