SCOREBOARD
Friday, Feb. 15
Dallas at Anaheim (10 p.m. EST). The Stars lead the Ducks by four points for first place in the Pacific Division.
STARS
Thursday
-Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks, scored twice in the first period and added an assist to lead Chicago to a 6-1 victory at Nashville.
-Manny Legace, Blues, stopped 39 shots to help St. Louis defeat Colorado 4-1.
-Martin St. Louis, Lightning, had a goal and two assists to lead Tampa Bay to a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.
-Radim Vrbata, Coyotes, scored a short-handed goal and added two assists in Phoenix’s 5-2 win over Dallas.
-Ray Whitney, Hurricanes, had a goal and two assists and Carolina beat Pittsburgh 4-2.
-Ruslan Fedotenko, Islanders, scored a pair of power-play goals in New York’s 5-4 win at Toronto.
-Mikko Koivu, Wild, scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give Minnesota a 5-4 win at Vancouver.
HURT ROD
Jim Rutherford said Brind’Amour will undergo reconstructive surgery and will miss four to six months. Brind’Amour, who has a team-leading 51 points, was sandwiched by the Penguins’ Nathan Smith and Georges Laraque near the boards at the center line just 1 1/2 minutes into the game.The Hurricanes were already without three defenseman – Tim Gleason and newly acquired Joe Corvo because of the flu and Bret Hedican with a lower-body injury.
GREAT PROGRESS
Florida forward Richard Zednik, whose carotid artery was nearly severed by a teammate’s skate earlier in the week, may be discharged from a Buffalo hospital by Saturday. Zednik is showing improvement after his neck was slashed, said Dr. Sonya Noor on Thursday. Noor performed emergency surgery Sunday night after Zednik’s neck was accidentally cut by the skate of teammate Olli Jokinen. Zednik lost five pints of blood in the gruesome accident, but was upgraded to good condition on Wednesday.
LOCKED UP
Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers agreed Thursday on a six-year, $41.25 million contract extension that will keep the two-time Vezina Trophy finalist in the fold through the 2013-14 season. The 25-year-old Swede is 24-21-5 this season with a 2.37 goals-against average in 50 games.
ANOTHER STRONG START
Blackhawks had four goals through the first 20 minutes in a 7-2 victory at Columbus.
BUILDING A LEGACE
St. Louis goalie Manny Legace improved to 13-2 lifetime against Colorado with a 1.88 goals-against average after making 39 saves in Thursday night’s 4-1 win. He is 6-0 at Pepsi Center.
PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM
Tampa Bay won its eighth straight game in Philadelphia going back to the 2002-03 season after beating the Flyers 5-3 on Thursday night. The Lightning, winners of four of five, have not lost a road game in regulation overall since Jan. 3.
HIGH FIVE
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin scored for the fifth straight game and pushed his points streak to seven contests in a 4-2 loss at Carolina on Thursday night. He has six goals and 11 assists during that stretch.
LOW FIVE
Philadelphia was handed its fifth straight loss Thursday night, 5-3 to Tampa Bay. It’s the Flyers longest losing streak since a six-game skid in late December.
POWERING UP
The New York Islanders scored four power-play goals during their 5-4 win at Toronto on Thursday night. The Islanders had just four power-play goals in their previous 11 games, spanning 33 opportunities.
FINALLY
Ray Whitney, Erik Cole and Eric Staal all broke lengthy goalless droughts in Carolina’s 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Whitney broke a 10-game drought, Cole had just his second goal in 12 games and Staal added his first tally since he was selected as the MVP of last month’s All-Star game.
SNAPPED
Phoenix ended a four-game losing streak by defeating Dallas 5-2 on Thursday night.
RELEASED
Boston defenseman Aaron Ward was released from a Pittsburgh hospital Thursday, one day after he suffered a neck injury in game against the Penguins. No decision will be made on Ward’s playing status until after he is evaluated on Friday.
SPEAKING
“We can’t afford to sit back and say, ‘Oh well, close was good enough tonight, with the personnel we had. We had to go out and try to get a win.” – Ray Whitney after Carolina topped Pittsburgh 4-2 on Thursday night despite losing captain Rod Brind’Amour for likely the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and missing three defenseman with illness and injury.