Hockey today - October 7
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD Sunday, Oct. 7
San Jose at Colorado (7 p.m. EDT). The Sharks continue their season-opening, five-game road trip against the Avalanche.
STARS Friday
-Rick Nash and Pascal Leclaire, Blue Jackets. Nash had two goals and a career-best four points and Leclaire stopped all 28 shots he faced in Columbus' 4-0 win over Anaheim.
-Mike Comrie, Islanders, scored twice and had two assists, leading New York to a 6-4 victory at Buffalo.
-Eric Staal, Hurricanes, scored two first-period goals to ignite Carolina's 4-1 win over Pittsburgh.
-Jeremy Roenick, Sharks, scored twice to lead San Jose to a 3-1 win at Vancouver.
SHUT DOWN
Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby was held to one shot in 19:27 of ice time in Friday night's 4-1 loss at Carolina, He entered with an average of one point per game in eight meetings with the Hurricanes.
FOR STARTERS
The New York Islanders opened their season with a victory for the first time since 2001, and second time in the past 12 seasons, after a 6-4 win at Buffalo on Friday night. ... Dallas won its fifth straight home opener and improved to 8-0-1 over the last nine such games with a 4-1 victory over Boston.
AMERICAN MADE
Dallas captain Mike Modano got career point No. 1,227 in Friday night's 4-1 win over Boston, five shy of matching Phil Housley for the most by an American-born player. ... Jeremy Roenick scored twice in San Jose's 3-1 win at Vancouver and is now three goals away from becoming just the third American-born player to score 500 goals, and five goals shy of matching Joe Mullen (502) for second place behind leader Modano (507).
FEELING BLUE
St. Louis placed defenseman Eric Brewer on the injured list on Friday night with a shoulder injury sustained in the season-opening loss in Phoenix. Blueliner Jay McKee is already out with a fractured right foot suffered during a preseason game.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Atlanta rookie Bryan Little scored in his NHL debut, a 3-1 loss to Washington on Friday night.
SHAKEUP
Peter Wirtz resigned as vice president of Chicago on Friday and his older brother, Rocky, took over as the team's chairman. The change comes after the death last month of their father and longtime Blackhawks chairman, William Wirtz.
ACTIVATED
Columbus activated defenseman Adam Foote and forward Fredrik Modin off the injured list Friday in time for their season opener against Anaheim.
ON THE MEND
Colorado goaltender Jose Theodore will complete his rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery by starting in the season opener for the AHL Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday. The Avalanche said he would return to Colorado on Sunday.
SIGNED
Defenseman Radek Martinek signed a three-year contract extension Friday with the New York Islanders through at least 2011.
SPEAKING
''Those are excuses. That's the way it goes. We didn't have the energy that was necessary to compete at the level they played at.'' - Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle on his team being tired following Friday night's 4-0 loss to Columbus. The Ducks have played four games on two continents and in three arenas in less than a week.
Ducks demote Ryan, recall two
October 6, 2007
Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Anaheim Ducks assigned Bobby Ryan, the second overall pick in the 2005 draft behind Sidney Crosby, to AHL Portland on Saturday.
They also recalled right winger Jason King and left winger Drew Miller from Portland.
Ryan, 20, scored a goal in four regular-season games with the Ducks. He also had a goal and five assists in four preseason games to lead the team in points.
King, 26, scored two goals in Portland's season opener Friday. He had two goals and an assist in four preseason games with the Ducks.
Miller, 23, didn't have a point in the Pirates' opener and had one goal in three exhibition games for Anaheim.
Avery hurts shoulder as Rangers lose to Senators
NEWSDAY.COM
It's never easy for the Rangers when they face the Ottawa Senators, and last night was no exception.
With the league's top defense collapsing in the shooting lanes and blocking shots, and Senators goalie Martin Gerber stopping another 35, the Rangers were blanked, 2-0, at Scotiabank Place. Since 2002, the Rangers have beaten the Senators only three times in 17 games.
And in what appears to be a significant blow, the Rangers lost sparkplug Sean Avery for the game - and perhaps longer - with a sprained shoulder from a hit by right wing Chris Neil at 7:28 of the first period.
Neil saw Avery looking down at the puck near the sideboards and flattened him with an elbow to the left shoulder. When Avery got up, his arm was hanging uselessly as he skated off in a crouch. Neil received a two-minute penalty.
The two skirmished 56 seconds into the period with each receiving minor roughing penalties.
"I thought he [Neil] left his feet; I don't know about the head shot," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "I don't think he was going after his head."
If Avery has to miss significant time, the Rangers (1-1) could summon Nigel Dawes from Hartford, one of the last cuts during the preseason, or provide time for Marcel Hossa, who was scratched for the second straight game.
Ryan Callahan and Petr Prucha filled in for Avery on the second line. As he did Thursday against Florida, Henrik Lundqvist kept the game close, making 17 of his 31 saves in the second period.
Some of the blame for the loss lies with the Rangers' power play, which was 0-for-6. But give Ottawa's penalty killers credit. They haven't allowed a goal with a man down in 17 opportunities this season.
Still, for much of the game, the Rangers failed to execute passes and appeared to have some problems communicating. "We tried to do too many extraordinary things individually," Renney said.
Defensemen Marek Malik and Michal Rozsival had a lapse on the first goal, a shorthanded one, when Mike Fisher went past Rozsival down the left side and Malik lost track of Andrej Meszaros as he cruised into the slot and went upstairs on Lundqvist at 4:47.
Ottawa made it 2-0 just 57 seconds later as a wide-open Daniel Alfredsson scored on a rebound of a shot taken by Jason Spezza. The play began when Jason Strudwick collided with Rangers teammate Chris Drury.
The Rangers sat defenseman Paul Mara in favor of Strudwick, which was a mild surprise. Mara played surprisingly well last year after arriving from Boston in a swap for Aaron Ward.
Before the game, Renney said he wanted to get Strudwick some ice time.
"Simple as that," he said.
Havlat's injury stumps doctors
suntimes.com
The Blackhawks had their medical staff examine star winger Martin Havlat's injured shoulder, and doctors still don't know what to make of it. Coach Denis Savard didn't even know what to call it Saturday, though it appears to be a dislocation.
''I don't know what it is,'' Savard said. ''We'll have more of an idea in about a week. We're going to get a second opinion then. We want [the pain in Havlat's right shoulder] to settle down. It's sore.''
The Hawks would like to avoid surgery. Havlat already has gone under the knife twice on the same shoulder, and he has required lengthy rehab periods both times.
Savard said Havlat will be given a few days to rest, then will ride an exercise bike. The Hawks don't want him on the ice for fear he might do more damage to the shoulder.