UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Joe Nieuwendyk had a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils won for the fourth time in five games, beating the New York Islanders 4-2 on Saturday night.
Pascal Rheaume, Jamie Langenbrunner and John Madden also scored for the Devils, who extended their Atlantic Division lead over Philadelphia to four points, though the Flyers have a game in hand.
Martin Brodeur made 18 saves for his 38th victory. Oleg Kvasha and Janne Niinimaa scored for the Islanders, who have lost three straight games at home. New Jersey, 3-0-1-0 against the Islanders this season, opened the scoring at 3:18 of the first period. Jim McKenzie took a shot from the left wall that Garth Snow stopped, but Rheaume, cruising down the slot untouched, put the rebound home.
Rangers 2, Flyers 1
PHILADELPHIA – Dan Blackburn made 28 saves in a spectacular relief effort and Petr Nedved scored the winning goal late in the third period as the New York Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1.
The victory kept the Rangers’ slim playoff hopes going in the Eastern Conference.
It was only the Flyers’ second loss of the season (24-2-5-1) when leading after the first period.
Philadelphia remained two points behind the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Nedved scored his 25th goal when he took a shot from the top of the right circle that glanced off the butt end of goaltender Robert Esche’s stick and into the net with 3:12 remaining in the third period.
Ted Donato also scored for the Rangers, who won their third straight and first on the road in five games.
Canadiens 5, Hurricanes 3
MONTREAL – Saku Koivu and Andrei Markov each had a goal and an assist, and Jose Theodore made 34 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-3 victory over Carolina.
Francis Bouillon, Jason Ward and Donald Audette also scored for Montreal, which ended a seven-game home winless streak.
Carolina’s Kevin Adams opened the scoring 14 seconds into the game, and Josef Vasicek also scored for the Hurricanes.
The crowd of 21,273 cheered during the final verse of the U.S. national anthem following a video address by Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau asking fans to respect the playing of both anthems.
Maple Leafs 3, Sabres 2
TORONTO – Bryan McCabe scored 36 seconds into overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Buffalo Sabres 3-2.
McCabe fired a slap shot past goalie Mika Noronen for the Toronto defenseman’s fifth goal of the season.
Mats Sundin and Robert Svehla each had a goal and an assist for Maple Leafs, who played their third straight overtime game.
J.P. Dumont and James Patrick scored for the Sabres, who outshot Toronto 27-19.
Svehla made a breakaway pass to Sundin, who gave Toronto a 1-0 lead at 4:17 of the first. Sundin streaked toward the net and put in his own rebound.
Avalanche 8, Blackhawks 1
DENVER – Alex Tanguay stayed hot with his first career hat trick and the Colorado Avalanche clinched a playoff spot by routing the Chicago Blackhawks 8-1.
Tanguay, who has 20 goals and 33 assists in his last 44 games, scored twice in the second period, when Colorado had five goals. Rob Blake, Adam Foote and Stephen Reinprecht added second-period goals.
Red Wings 4, Blues 2
ST. LOUIS – Niklas Lidstrom scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Curtis Joseph stopped 24 shots as the Detroit Red Wings won their sixth straight with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
The win moved the first-place Red Wings seven points ahead of the second-place Blues in the Central Division. Each team has eight games to play.
Thrashers 3, Blue Jackets 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lubos Bartecko’s goal with 7:04 left gave the Atlanta Thrashers a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Dany Heatley had a goal to extend his points streak to six games (4-6-10). He has eight goals and 14 points this month.
Senators 3, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. – Marian Hossa scored with 36.7 seconds left as the Ottawa Senators clinched the Northeast Division title with a 3-1 victory over Florida.
Ottawa has won the Northeast title three times in the last five seasons.
Lightning 4, Coyotes 0
PHOENIX – Vincent Lecavalier had his second three-goal game of the season as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Phoenix 4-0 to move within a point of clinching a playoff spot. Lecavalier scored twice on the power play and once short-handed, and Dave Andreychuk added a power-play goal for the Lightning.
Predators 1, Flames 1
CALGARY, Alberta – Rookie Blair Betts scored his first goal of the season with 6:24 to play to give the Calgary Flames a a 1-1 tie with the Nashville Predators .
Oilers 5, Capitals 3
EDMONTON, Alberta – Fernando Pisani had his first three-goal game in the NHL as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals 5-3.
Mighty Ducks 3, Sharks 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Niclas Havelid scored with 3:27 left in overtime, and Paul Kariya had three assists as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks moved to the brink of their first playoff berth in four years, beating the San Jose Sharks 3-2.
Havelid fired a shot through a crowd in front of the net at the same moment Scott Hannan emerged from the Sharks’ penalty box. The Ducks, who celebrated wildly on their California rival’s home ice, need just one more win or a loss by Phoenix to clinch a playoff spot.
Petr Sykora scored two goals on passes from Kariya as the Ducks rallied from a two-goal deficit. Jean-Sebastian Giguere made 22 saves to remain unbeaten in five starts.
Vincent Damphousse scored his third goal in two games for the Sharks, and Patrick Marleau also scored as San Jose finished a stretch of three games in three nights with three points. Evgeni Nabokov, returning after a four-game absence with a back injury, made 21 saves.
The huge Colorado snowstorm earlier in the week forced the Sharks to become the first team since the 1980 Quebec Nordiques to play three games in three nights. San Jose lost to the Avalanche on Thursday in a postponed game, then beat the Boston Bruins on Friday.
The Ducks took advantage of the NHL’s worst penalty-killing team for two power play goals, but the Sharks seemed to have more energy than Anaheim for much of the night. Kariya’s exceptional playmaking skills and Havelid’s goal saved the Ducks.
On the road this season, Anaheim has been the NHL’s most effective penalty-killing team, but the Ducks allowed two power-play goals in the first 30 minutes.
Damphousse scored his 23rd goal by deflecting Jim Fahey’s shot over Jean-Sebastien Giguere late in the first period. Midway through the second, Marleau scored his 25th goal, tying his career high set two years ago.
Sykora got his 31st goal in the second period, rattling a power-play shot off the post behind Nabokov and into the net. Less than four minutes later, Kariya again found Sykora behind the San Jose defense for a breakaway goal.
Kariya extended his points streak to four games.
Notes: Sharks coach Ron Wilson was the first coach in Ducks history, winning 120 games from 1993-97. … New Sharks acquisition Wayne Primeau missed his third straight game with a back injury. … Anaheim D Ruslan Salei missed his ninth game with a back injury. … The Shark Tank was sold out – once a regular occurrence, but a rarity these days for the non-contending team. … The teams meet again in Anaheim on Wednesday.
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ers. Jason Doig, Dainius Zubrus and Jason Doig scored for Washington.
Edmonton, eighth in the Western Conference, has earned seven points in its last four games to move 10 points ahead of ninth-place Phoenix in the race for the final playoff spot.
Washington is sixth in the Eastern Conference, and also three points behind Tampa Bay for the Southeast Division lead.
Tommy Salo made 29 saves for Edmonton, and Kolzig stopped 28 shots for Washington.
Notes: Former Oiler Mike Grier made his first appearance at SkyReach Centre since being traded to the Capitals in October. … With an assist on Comrie’s goal, Ryan Smyth extended his scoring streak to seven games. He has four goals and five assists during the streak.
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Vokoun made 30 saves, and Turek stopped 22 shots.
Calgary was eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race, stretching its playoff drought to seven seasons.
Flames star Jarome Iginla did not play because of a shoulder sprain. He was injured Thursday night when he was sent head-first into the boards on a check from behind by Washington’s Ken Klee.
Notes: The crowd of 16,628 loudly cheered the American national anthem. … After a stretch in which Nashville had earned points in 11 of 12 games, the Predators are winless in seven (0-5-2). … Chris Clark took Iginla’s spot on the Flames’ top line with C Craig Conroy and LW Dave Lowry.
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from Andreychuk in the circle to the left of Boucher and shot it in the narrow gap between Boucher and the post.
The Lightning also showed its defense, shutting down Phoenix’s power play, not even allowing a shot on goal during a five-minute slashing major penalty to Fredrik Modin in the second period.
The Lightning opened the scoring on Andreychuk’s NHL-record 259th power-play goal, his 14th goal of the season with the man advantage. He knocked the puck past Boucher off a shot by Brad Richards with two minutes left in the first period.
Notes: Phoenix also lost its other meeting this season with Tampa Bay, but is 11-9 overall with the Lightning …. Phoenix will be on the road for its next four games, including a meeting with eighth-place Edmonton on Wednesday …. Khabibulin is 3-0 against his old team, having allowed two goals.
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Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi for the NHL goal lead, scoring his 43rd. Hossa beat Roberto Luongo with a wrist shot to the short side. After taking the puck in the corner, Hossa skated backward toward the side of the net and used Olli Jokinen as a screen, shooting the puck between his legs.
Ottawa tied it on a three-way passing play among Smolinski, Arvedson and Todd White. White carried the puck over the blue line and passed to Arvedson, who one-timed a cross-ice pass to Smolinski. Smolinski then one-timed it between Luongo’s legs.
Cullen gave Florida the lead with his 13th goal of the season, his first in eight games. Kristian Huselius poked the puck away from Ottawa’s Radek Bonk to create a two-on-one break. Huselius held the puck until defenseman Wade Redden went down and then slid a pass over to Cullen, who shot into the open net.
The Panthers missed a chance to pad their lead when Ivan Novoseltsev had a breakaway early in the third period, but Lalime denied his attempt to put the puck between his legs on a deke.
Notes: The singing of the Canadian anthem drew loud and steady booing. Fans greeted the start of “The Star-Spangled Banner” with loud applause. The Panthers issued an apology in a prepared statement. “The entire Florida Panthers organization regrets that a number of fans behaved direspectfully during the playing of the Canadian anthem.” … Ottawa played without leading scorer Daniel Alfredsson (hip flexor) and wing Peter Schaefer (lower back). … Luongo set a Florida record for goalies by appearing in his 61st game this season.
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Pirjeta’s shot from the right side was muffled by goaltender Milan Hnilicka, but Nash was there to jam in the short rebound. An instant after sliding the puck into an almost open net, Nash was hit hard from behind by defenseman Garnet Exelby.
Ilya Kovalchuk dug the puck out of the backboards and backhanded a centering pass to Hartigan for his fifth goal 5:05 into the final period.
Less than a minute later, Pirjeta scored his 10th when he converted off a rebound of Luke Richardson’s wrist shot in heavy traffic.
Tony Hrkac’s cross-ice pass set up the winner, with Bartecko getting behind the defense, deking goaltender Marc Denis and beating him on the stick side for his sixth goal.
Columbus had several prime scoring chances in the closing moments, but Hnilicka – who ran his record to 4-12-1 with a 36-save effort – was up to the challenge. Geoff Sanderson was just wide with a hard shot from the left dot with 1:15 remaining.
Notes: Atlanta was on the road for the first time after a five-game homestand, while Columbus was playing its last home game before starting a five-game road trip. … The Blue Jackets had killed 27 of 28 penalties over the previous five games before Heatley’s goal. … Denis has started 71 of Columbus’ 74 games and can tie Grant Fuhr’s NHL record for games in a season set in 1996-97 with St. Louis if he plays in the Blue Jackets’ final eight games.
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Detroit scored two goals in the first period to take an early lead. Henrik Zetterberg scored first on a power play. His first shot hit the post but he got the rebound. He then spun, and his shot hit Blues defenseman Alexander Khavanov.
But the puck bounced off him toward Osgood and went in after hitting Osgood’s skate.
Later in the period, Mathieu Schneider scored Detroit’s second goal on a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle with 0.01 seconds remaining.
Notes: Detroit RW Brett Hull had 13 goals in his last 19 games and needs five goals to move into a fourth-place tie with Phil Esposito (717). … RW Valeri Bure did not play for the Blues, who dealt for him March 11. Bure injured his knee Feb. 15 and is expected to be out for up to two more weeks. … Barret Jackman is the only rookie in the league playing nearly 20 minutes a game. He is second among rookies with a plus-19.
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Chicago. Craig Andersson gave up five goals in his second career start for the Blackhawks, then Steve Passmore came on.
Leading 1-0, Blake, Foote and Tanguay scored 2:51 apart early in the second period. Blake converted a cross-ice pass from Joe Sakic; Foote buried a shot from the slot after taking a no-look pass from Forsberg; and Tanguay took Forsberg’s pass from behind the net to beat Andersson, who was without a stick.
After Strudwick scored on a rebound for Chicago, Tanguay sent a shot between Passmore’s pads for his third goal of the game.
Milan Hejduk and Serge Aubin had third-period goals for Colorado.
The Avs took a 1-0 lead on Tanguay’s first goal after Forsberg skated down a loose puck along the boards and fed defensemen Derek Morris in the slot. Morris passed to Tanguay in the right circle and Tanguay sent a wrist shot over Andersson’s glove.
Steve Poapst nearly tied it two minutes later when his shot from the right point hit the goalpost and carromed off the back of Roy. Roy reached back at the last minute the catch the puck.
Notes: Blackhawks goaltender Jocelyn Thibault (post concussion syndrome) will be re-evaluated in a week. … Andersson denied short-handed chances by Jeff Shantz and Eric Messier with glove saves in the first period. … The Blackhawks are 1-7-1-0 in their last nine games in Denver. … Chicago’s Chris Simon and Avalanche Scott Parker exchanged punches in the second period. … Derek Morris had three assists to give him a career-high 32 for the year. … Hejduk reached a career high with his 42nd goal. … The Avalanche have killed 15 consecutive penalties over five games.
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