Rangers Off To Slow Start
There is never really a good time for a slump, but the start of the season is one of the worst times. The New York Rangers, with two consecutive defeats and only one victory in their first seven games, got the message Thursday at Playland Ice Casino in Rye, N.Y.
“We haven’t been aggressive enough,” coach Colin Campbell said.
Aleksei Kovalev has been in Campbell’s doghouse.
“I get frustrated with his play,” Campbell said, “and he gets frustrated with my coaching.”
One who urged understanding for Kovalev was Wayne Gretzky, who noted Kovalev is coming back from serious knee surgery that idled him for the second half of last season.
“Be a little patient,” Gretzky said. “He’s the one guy you can give the benefit of the doubt to. He feels sometimes like he’s got to impress every time he gets near the puck. He’s just got to let it come to him. You can see in his eyes when he’s down on himself. We all know we need Alex.”
LeClair gets new deal
John LeClair confirmed Thursday that as part of his renegotiated deal, the Flyers have agreed to pay him $4 million in bonus money over the final three years of his contract.
The new deal, which is expected to average $3.3 million a year, has additional achievable incentives that could push the contract’s value to close to $4 million a year.
On the ice
At Dallas, Ed Belfour only had to stop 12 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the Florida Panthers 4-0.
xxxx NHL SUMMARIES Stars 4, Panthers 0 At Dallas Florida 0 0 0 0 Dallas 1 0 3 4 First period1, Dallas, Langenbrunner 2, 6:34 (pp). Second periodNone. Third period2, Dallas, Modano 6 (Lehtinen), :40. 3, Dallas, Harvey 2 (Adams, Nieuwendyk), 1:01. 4, Dallas, Matvichuk 1 (Lehtinen, Modano), 7:48. Shots on goalFlorida 5-2-512. Dallas 8-12-929.Power-play opp.Florida 0 of 5; Dallas 1 of 8.GoaliesFlorida, Vanbiesbrouck 2-2-1 (24 shots-20 saves), Weeks (8:01 third, 5-5). Dallas, Belfour 3-1-1 (12-12).A14,812 (16,924).
Islanders 5, Sharks 2 At San Jose, Calif. N.Y. Islanders 1 2 2 5 San Jose 0 1 1 2 First period1, New York, Palffy 2 (Reichel, Vaske), 5:42. Second period2, San Jose, Kozlov 4 (McSorley, Houlder), 3:26. 3, New York, Palffy 3 (Reichel, Berard), 8:25 (pp). 4, New York, Smolinski 1 (Green, Palffy), 17:48 (pp). Third period5, San Jose, Granato 1 (Friesen, Zyuzin), 1:18. 6, New York, Reichel 2, 7:42. 7, New York, Palffy 4 (Jonsson), 15:02. Shots on goalN.Y. Islanders 12-7-625. San Jose 10-14-1034.Power-play opp.N.Y. Islanders 2 of 8; San Jose 0 of 8.Goalies N.Y. Islanders, Salo 2-2-1 (34 shots-32 saves). San Jose, Vernon 2-3-0 (25-20).A16,031 (17,483).
NHL scoring leaders NEW YORK (AP) NHL scoring leaders through Oct. 15. Player,Team GP G A PTS PIM Lindros, Phi 8 6 7 13 16 Leclair, Phi 8 6 5 11 4 Stumpel, LA 7 4 7 11 2 Modano, Dal 6 5 5 10 4 Lidstrom, Det 7 3 7 10 2 Forsberg, Col 7 3 7 10 12 Duchesne, StL 6 2 8 10 6 Sakic, Col 7 4 5 9 0