TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Daniel Alfredsson had three goals and four assists for an Ottawa-record seven points, leading the struggling Senators to an 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.
Alfredsson and Jason Spezza, who had two goals and two assists, scored 29 seconds apart during Ottawa’s three-goal first period. The Senators’ captain added a short-handed goal and his 500th career assist in the second as the Senators took a 5-0 lead.
Tampa Bay’s John Tortorella coached his 507th game, breaking a tie with Herb Brooks for most games coached by an American-born NHL coach.
Alfredsson topped his career high of six points at Buffalo on Nov. 2, 2005.
Wild 3, Avalanche 2
DENVER (AP) – Pavol Demitra had a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom stopped 28 shots to make Minnesota 20-0 this season when taking a lead into final period.
Backstrom bears down when he has a lead as well. He improved to 25-0 in his career with his team up after two periods.
Jose Theodore went to the bench with 1:31 remaining in favor of an extra skater, but the Avalanche couldn’t tie the score.
Todd Fedoruk and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild as the team won in a building that hasn’t been friendly to them. Minnesota is 5-15-0 with two ties in 22 games at the Pepsi Center.
Sharks 4, Blues 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Jonathan Cheechoo scored twice in the third period and San Jose moved into a tie atop the Pacific Division heading into the All-Star break.
Milan Michalek and Steve Bernier also scored for the Sharks, who won for the fifth time in seven home games to move to .500 in their own building. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 shots for his second straight win after a three-game losing streak.
Brad Boyes scored his team-leading 29th goal for the Blues, who are 0-5-2 in their past seven games. Manny Legace stopped 22 shots in his third game in five days, including the past two.
Kings 3, Ducks 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Derek Armstong had a goal and an assist to help Los Angeles defeat ending its four-game losing streak to rival Anaheim.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks headed into the All-Star break with victories in six of their last nine games. The Kings have won five of their last seven, but remain mired at the bottom of the Western Conference.
The Ducks’ top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Todd Bertuzzi and Corey Perry was held scoreless.
Coyotes 4, Predators 3
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Zbynek Michalek scored with 29 seconds left in overtime on a 40-foot slap shot to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.
Radim Vrbata scored three goals and assisted on the winner for Coyotes, who improved to 18-0-0 when they score four goals or more. Michalek’s goal was the second of the season for the defenseman.
Rich Peverley, Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov scored for Nashville. Radulov’s goal came 7 seconds into the second period, tying a team record.
Capitals 2, Maple Leafs 1
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Capitals entered the All-Star break by winning for the fifth time in six games to get within a point of first place in the Southeast Division.
Brooks Laich and Viktor Kozlov scored, and Alex Ovechkin assisted on both goals in Thursday night’s 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The win gave the Capitals a split of the home-and-home, back-to-back series against Toronto and moved them within a point Carolina. Washington is the only NHL team not to lose consecutive games in regulation since Nov. 22, the day Bruce Boudreau took over for Hanlon.
Brent Johnson, giving Olie Kolzig a night off, made 31 saves for the Capitals. Ovechkin had his six-game goal-scoring streak come to an end, but his two assists give him 13 points in his last seven games.
Rangers 2, Thrashers 1, SO
NEW YORK (AP) – On Brian Leetch night, the New York Rangers got it done with defense.
Henrik Lundqvist was perfect through three rounds of the shootout, and Brendan Shanahan scored the only goal in the tiebreaker for the Rangers.
Before the game, the Rangers retired Leetch’s No. 2 and raised a banner to the Madison Square Garden rafters in between those honoring former teammates Mark Messier and Mike Richter.
Shanahan scored with the first shot of the shootout, and Mark Recchi, Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa failed to solve Lundqvist.
Hossa staked Atlanta to a 1-0 lead in the opening minute of the second period.
Sabres 2, Stars 1
DALLAS (AP) – Derek Roy scored both goals, including the game-winner with 14:48 left after a 2-on-1 break with some nifty passing, and Buffalo beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Thursday night. It was only the second win in 14 games for the Sabres.
After having the best overall record in the NHL last season, the Sabres (21-21-6) have slipped nearly all the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with only Tampa Bay having fewer than their 48 points. They are only one loss shy of matching last year’s total.
Ryan Miller stopped 18 shots for the Sabres.
Blue Jackets 1, Blackhawks 0
CHICAGO (AP) – Pascal Leclaire made 30 saves for his league-leading eighth shutout and Jared Boll scored.
Leclaire had to make a handful of tough saves, although the tight-checking Blue Jackets limited Chicago’s offensive space and chances.
Boll scored his fifth goal of the season on a deflection in the second period, his first score in 15 games.
Nikolai Khabibulin made his first start in six games and had 26 saves, but his personal losing streak reached eight games (0-7-1).
Oilers 4, Panthers 3, SO
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Jarret Stoll scored twice in the final 1:23 of regulation to force overtime and help the Edmonton Oilers beat Florida 4-3 in a shootout Thursday.
Shawn Horcoff scored the only goal in the shootout, and Oilers goalie Mathieu Baron stopped Nathan Horton, Kamil Kreps and Olli Jokinen.
Ethan Moreau also scored in regulation for Edmonton, which won for only the second time in its last six games.
Jokinen, Brett McLean, and Gregory Campbell scored for Florida, which snapped a six-game home losing streak with a 5-3 victory over Ottawa in its previous game.
Canadiens 4, Devils 3
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Chris Higgins scored a power-play goal with 5:29 remaining to cap Montreal’s three-goal third period in the final game for both before the All-Star break.
Brian Smolinski scored twice for Montreal, which got its 17th road win of the season.
The Devils had leads of 2-0 and 3-1, thanks to two goals from Patrick Elias and one from captain Jamie Langenbrunner.
Bruins 4, Islanders 1
BOSTON (AP) – Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman each had a goal and an assist for Boston.
Tim Thomas made 28 saves and Zdeno Chara added two assists for the Bruins, who have won four of six and headed into the All-Star break seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders lost for the first time in five road games but have dropped four of six going into the break.
Flyers 4, Penguins 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – The Flyers entered the All-Star break simply perfect against Pittsburgh.
Mike Knuble and Jim Vandermeer scored third-period goals to lift Philadelphia to its fourth win this season against their division rivals.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 27th goal for the Penguins in their first game since they learned reigning MVP Sidney Crosby will miss six to eight weeks with a high ankle sprain.
Add A Comment