Devils Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

NHL

The New Jersey Devils, who had just two goals the previous three games, scored six in the second period Saturday and beat the host Hartford Whalers 6-3.

New Jersey, trying to avoid becoming the first defending Stanley Cup champion in 27 years to miss the playoffs, improved to 82 points and tied Tampa Bay for the eighth and last Eastern Conference playoff spot.

New Jersey and Tampa Bay, which lost to Pittsburgh 2-1 Saturday night, each have four games left.

New Jersey, which had lost three straight, trailed 1-0 after the first period, then turned around the game by converting five of its first nine shots in the second against rookie Jason Muzzatti.

Muzzatti, who shut out the Devils 1-0 Thursday, was yanked after the fifth goal and replaced by Sean Burke, a former New Jersey goalie.

“It’s just one game, but I think you gain confidence from this,”said Devils defenseman Phil Housley, who had three assists. “We’ve been struggling to score goals, and hopefully the guys that scored can feel good about themselves.”

Devils 6, Whalers 3

Buffalo 0 0 0 - 0

N.Y. Islanders 0 1 2 - 3

First period-None. Second period-1, New York, Hendrickson 7, 1:50. Third period-2, New York, McCabe 6 (McInnis, Palffy), 8:08 (pp). 3, New York, Green 22, 19:47 (en).

Shots on goal-Buffalo 15-3-2-20. New York 6-12-15-33.Power-play opp.-Buffalo 0 of 2; New York 1 of 5.Goalies-Buffalo, Hasek 22-30-6 (25 shots-24 saves), Trefilov (6:52 third, 7-6). New York, Fichaud 7-11-0 (20-20).A-13,225 (16,297).

Avalanche 5, Sharks 1

Denver

Stephane Yelle had his first two-goal game of the season and Colorado held San Jose to just 13 shots in a win.

Sandis Ozolinsh, traded to Colorado from San Jose last October, added a goal and an assist.

San Jose 0 1 0 - 1

Colorado 0 4 1 - 5

First period-No scoring. Second period-1, Colorado, Yelle 10 (Ricci, Gusarov), 2:15. 2, Colorado, Young 20 (Sakic, Simon), 5:29. 3, Colorado, Rychel 5 (Ozolinsh), 12:42. 4, San Jose, Caloun 7 (Peltonen, Kroupa), 16:44 (pp). 5, Colorado, Ozolinsh 12 (Forsberg, Kamensky), 19:30 (pp). Third period-6, Colorado, Yelle 11 (Ricci, Murray), 6:07.

Shots on goal-San Jose 2-6-5-13. Colorado 8-16-8-32.Power-play opp.-San Jose 1 of 3; Colorado 1 of 4.Goalies-San Jose, Irbe 4-9-4 (32 shots-27 saves). Colorado, Roy 32-23-2 (13-12).A-16,061 (16,061).

Islanders 3, Sabres 0

Uniondale, N.Y.

Eric Fichaud stopped 20 shots for his first NHL shutout to help New York end an 11-game losing streak with a victory over Buffalo.

Fichaud saved the shutout by smothering Mike Peca’s breakaway backhander with 2:18 left. Darby Hendrickson, Bryan McCabe and Travis Green scored for the Islanders.

New Jersey 0 6 0 - 6

Hartford 1 2 0 - 3

First period-1, Hartford, Ranheim 10 (Cassels, Kron), 3:32. Second period-2, New Jersey, Andreychuk 25 (Housley, Guerin), 2:24. 3, Hartford, Shanahan 41 (Emerson, Brown), 5:58 (pp). 4, New Jersey, MacLean 19, 6:50. 5, New Jersey, Carpenter 5 (Richer, Niedermayer), 8:18 (sh). 6, Hartford, Emerson 27 (Brown, Sanderson), 10:44 (pp). 7, New Jersey, Holik 12 (Housley, Richer), 12:46. 8, New Jersey, Daneyko 2 (Guerin, Niedermayer), 14:47. 9, New Jersey, Andreychuk 26 (Housley, Holik), 17:07 (pp). Third period-None.

Shots on goal-New Jersey 9-14-9-32. Hartford 10-13-5-28.Power-play opp.-New Jersey 1 of 4; Hartford 2 of 7.Goalies-New Jersey, Brodeur 32-28-12 (28 shots-25 saves). Hartford, Muzzatti 4-6-3 (18-13), Burke (14:47 second, 14-13).A-13,521 (15,635).

Penguins 2, Lightning 1

Pittsburgh

Ken Wregget made 39 saves as Pittsburgh beat Tampa Bay and dealt the Lightning’s playoff hopes a setback.

Dave Roche and Jaromir Jagr scored as the Penguins won for the sixth time in seven games and strengthened their hold on first place in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay 0 0 1 - 1

Pittsburgh 1 0 1 - 2

First period-1, Pittsburgh, Roche 7 (Murray), 8:06. Second period-None. Third period-2, Pittsburgh, Jagr 61 (Francis, Nedved), 9:18. 3, Tampa Bay, Bellows 22 (Wiemer), 9:29.

Shots on goal-Tampa Bay 9-17-14-40. Pittsburgh 10-11-7-28.Power-play opp.-Tampa Bay 0 of 4; Pittsburgh 0 of 3.Goalies-Tampa Bay, Puppa 26-16-9 (28 shots-26 saves). Pittsburgh, Wregget 20-12-2 (40-39).A-17,321 (17,181).

Maple Leafs 5, Blues 1

Toronto

Felix Potvin made 36 saves as Toronto beat St. Louis and moved into a tie for fourth with the injury-riddled Blues in the Western Conference.

Potvin’s outstanding goaltending helped Toronto establish a 2-1 lead by the end of two periods despite St. Louis’ 29-17 shots advantage, then Brandon Convery scored two power-play goals in the third period.

Wayne Gretzky, who bruised his back Thursday, joined Brett Hull (pulled hamstring), Shayne Corson (broken jaw) and Grant Fuhr (strained knee) on the injured list for the rematch.

St. Louis 1 0 0 - 1

Toronto 1 1 3 - 5

First period-1, St. Louis, Zezel 8 (Courtnall, Leach), 4:46 (pp). 2, Tornton, Gartner 34 (Muller, Warriner), 9:16. Second period-3, Toronto, Sundin 32 (Clark, Gilmour), 2:48. Third period-4, Toronto, Convery 3 (Murphy, Muller), 1:44 (pp). 5, Toronto, Convery 4 (Murphy), 7:11 (pp). 6, Toronto, Craig 8 (Kolesar, Kypreos), 15:34.

Shots on goal-St. Louis 13-16-8-37. Toronto 9-8-11-28.Power-play opp.-St. Louis 1 of 4; Toronto 2 of 4.Goalies-St. Louis, Casey 2-3-0 (21 shots-18 saves), Racine (1:44 third, 7-5). Toronto, Potvin 29-25-11 (37-36).A-15,746 (15,746).

Jets 4, Flames 3

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Mike Eastwood and Keith Tkachuk scored late in the third period to give Winnipeg a victory over Calgary, tightening the Western Conference playoff race.

Winnipeg and Calgary have 75 points. But the race is so tight the Jets went into the game in eighth place and the Flames in sixth in the West.

Calgary 0 2 1 - 3

Winnipeg 1 1 2 - 4

First period-1, Winnipeg, Fraser 1, 9:33. Second period-2, Calgary, Titov 28 (Sullivan, Fleury), :40. 3, Winnipeg, Olczyk 26 (McKenzie, Kilger), 6:03. 4, Calgary, Fleury 44 (Zalapski), 14:14. Third period-5, Calgary, Stillman 16 (Nylander, Kruse), 14:59. 6, Winnipeg, Eastwood 13 (Shannon, Drake), 16:51. 7, Winnipeg, Tkachuk 49 (Janney), 17:39.

Shots on goal-Calgary 16-15-10-43. Winnipeg 11-8-12-29.Power-play opp.-Calgary 0 of 0; Winnipeg 0 of 2.Goalies-Calgary, Tabaracci 18-15-3 (29 shots-25 saves). Winnipeg, Khabibulin 25-18-2 (43-40).A-15,557 (15,393).

Capitals 4, Senators 3

Kanata, Ontario

Sergei Gonchar scored twice and helped set up the winner as Washington beat Ottawa.

Andrew Brunette scored the winning goal 8:24 into the third, converting passes from Gonchar and Joe Juneau.

Washington 1 2 1 - 4

Ottawa 1 1 1 - 3

First period-1, Ottawa, Bonk 14 (Picard, Chorske), 12:07. 2, Washington, Gonchar 14 (Pivonka), 12:30. Second period-3, Ottawa, Alfredsson 24 (Duchesne, Picard), 4:08. 4, Washington, Gonchar 15 (Nelson, Brunette), 7:40. 5, Washington, Bondra 51 (Juneau), 12:17 (pp). Third period-6, Ottawa, Alfredsson 25 (Picard, Musil), :41. 7, Washington, Brunette 2 (Juneau, Gonchar), 8:24.

Shots on goal-Washington 6-10-6-22. Ottawa 6-8-8-22.Power-play opp.-Washington 1 of 3; Ottawa 0 of 3.Goalies-Washington, Carey 34-22-9 (22 shots-19 saves). Ottawa, Rhodes 13-25-5 (22-18).A-15,101 (18,500).

Canucks 4, Kings 2

Inglewood, Calif.

Trevor Linden and Jesse Belanger scored power-play goals less than 4 minutes apart, and Jim Sandlak added a short-handed goal as Vancouver beat Los Angeles.

Martin Gelinas reached the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career, midway through the third period.

Vancouver 2 1 1 - 4

Los Angeles 0 2 0 - 2

First period-1, Vancouver, Linden 33 (Aucoin, Mogilny), 13:32 (pp). 2, Vancouver, Belanger 20 (Rohlin, Lumme), 17:26 (pp). Second period-3, Los Angeles, Lacroix 16 (Khristich, Vopat), 6:29 (pp). 4, Vancouver, Sandlak 4 (Courtnall, Hedican), 10:06 (sh). 5, Los Angeles, Johnson 12 (Perreault, Lacroix), 19:11 (pp). Third period-6, Vancouver, Gelinas 30 (Linden, Lumme), 11:42.

Shots on goal-Vancouver 13-7-9-29. Los Angeles 5-19-10-34.Power-play opp.-Vancouver 2 of 5; Los Angeles 2 of 7.Goalies-Vancouver, Hirsch 17-13-6 (34 shots-32 saves). Los Angeles, Dafoe 14-23-8 (29-25).A-13,864 (16,005).

Canadiens 2, Panthers 1

Montreal

Montreal climbed back into fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a victory over Florida.

Montreal ended a three-game losing streak at the Molson Centre thanks to first-period goals by Marc Bureau and Valeri Bure.

Florida 0 0 1 - 1

Montreal 2 0 0 - 2

First period-1, Montreal, Bureau 3 (Petrov), 7:45. 2, Montreal, Bure 20 (Damphousse, Rucinsky), 13:07. Second period-None. Third period-3, Florida, Laus 3 (Mellanby, Garpenlov), 4:17.

Shots on goal-Florida 10-10-12-32. Montreal 5-10-5-20.Power-play opp.-Florida 0 of 3; Montreal 0 of 3.Goalies-Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 24-19-7 (20 shots-18 saves). Montreal, Thibault 26-17-4 (32-31).A-21,173 (21,221).