SCOREBOARD
Thursday, Oct. 18
New Jersey at Philadelphia (7 p.m. EDT). The Devils play the seventh of their season-opening nine-game road trip at the 4-1 Flyers.
STARS
Wednesday
– Jussi Jokinen, Stars, scored in regulation and had the only shootout goal to give Dallas a 3-2 victory over Columbus.
– Zach Parise, Devils, had three assists as New Jersey outlasted Pittsburgh 5-4.
– Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Ducks, made 28 saves in his second start of an injury-delayed season as Anaheim defeated Nashville 3-1.
OUSTED
Bob Hartley was fired Wednesday as coach of the Thrashers, who have lost their first six games following a four-game sweep in the first round of last year’s playoffs, and are the only NHL team without a victory. General manager Don Waddell will be the coach until a replacement is found. Hartley, who won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, was in his fifth season with Atlanta.
CONSISTENT
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin has at least a point in all five games this season, including a goal and an assist in Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss to New Jersey. Last season, he began his career with a goal in each of his first six games.
WINNING AGAIN
Keith Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and Manny Legace stopped 28 shots to help St. Louis post its fourth straight win, 3-1 over Chicago on Wednesday night. Paul Kariya, who leads the Blues with seven points, got his first goal of the season.
SWINGS
After being held scoreless in the season opener, reigning NHL scoring champion Sidney Crosby has six points in four games for Pittsburgh. The Penguins’ three power-play goals in Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss to New Jersey matched their amount in eight games against the Devils last season.
DOMINANT
Nashville has lost 10 of 12 games at Anaheim, including Wednesday night’s 3-1 defeat. The other two were overtime victories.
POWER SURGE
St. Louis, which entered the game 2-for-21 on the power play, converted two of three attempts in a 3-1 victory over Chicago on Wednesday night.
STAYING HOME
The crowd of 11,820 for Wednesday night’s game against Dallas was the smallest announced attendance for a Columbus regular-season home game.
SPEAKING
“It was a shock. I don’t think anybody saw this coming. It’s only six games. Sometimes changes need to be made. At the same time, it tells all of us it’s a big wake-up call and we need to fix this.” – Atlanta defenseman Garnet Exelby after the firing of coach Bob Hartley on Wednesday.