SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, Oct. 17
St. Louis at Chicago (8:30 p.m. EDT). The Blackhawks (3-2) have come from behind in each of their wins this season and will try to move two games over .500 for the first time since last Oct. 18.
STARS
Tuesday
-Ryan Smyth, Avalanche had a goal and an assist, then scored the decisive goal in the shootout as Colorado rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Calgary 5-4.
-Martin Biron, Flyers, made 31 saves in his 19th career shutout and first for Philadelphia, which beat Atlanta for the seventh straight time, 4-0.
-Jozef Stumpel, Panthers, scored the lone shootout goal to give Florida a 2-1 win over Montreal.
-Anze Kopitar, Kings, scored a short-handed goal and got the game-winner in a shootout as Los Angeles outlasted Minnesota 4-3.
SWINGS
Philadelphia’s 4-0 victory over Atlanta on Tuesday night improved the team to 4-1. The Flyers didn’t win their fourth game last season until Nov. 15. Philadelphia had only one three-game winning streak last season.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Jarome Iginla, who had two goals and an assist, had Calgary’s only goal in the shootout of a 5-4 loss to Colorado on Tuesday night.
POWER OUTAGE
Atlanta is in a 2-for-26 slump on the power play after failing on five chances in a 4-0 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
STICKING AROUND
Sabres forward Jochen Hecht agreed to a four-year, $14.1 million contract extension on Tuesday that will keep him in Buffalo through the 2011-12 season. Hecht, 30, in his fifth season with the Sabres, has two goals and four points in five games and was named captain for the month of October on a rotating basis. He has 112 goals and 298 points in 478 games with Buffalo, St. Louis and Edmonton.
WELL-TRAVELED
Veteran forward Randy Robitaille signed a one-year contract Tuesday with Ottawa, the ninth team of his career. The 32-year-old Robitaille, released from his Russian team, must clear NHL waivers by Wednesday before officially joining the Senators. He has 227 points (74-153) and 183 penalty minutes in 463 career games with Boston, Nashville, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, New York Islanders, Minnesota, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
SPEAKING
“I think we’re just beating ourselves up. We’ve got to kind of start the season all over again and just forget about it because if we keep thinking about it, it’s just going to get worse.” – Center Bryan Little after a 4-0 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday night left the Thrashers 0-6.