Kapanen Helps Whalers Notch Comeback Win

NHL

The Hartford Whalers are a more aggressive team these days.

“Two months ago, we might have gotten a tie and went back on our heels and been happy with our effort. Now we know we can play with anyone,” Hartford goalkeeper Sean Burke said after Wednesday night’s 5-3 victory over Montreal at Hartford, Conn. “We saw a tired team and took it to them,”

Sami Kapanen scored two third-period goals for the Whalers, 6-1 during February. Hartford trailed 3-1 early in the third period when Kapanen scored.

Steve Rice and Andrei Nikolishin followed with goals 1 minute apart that chased Canadiens goalie Pat Jablonski. Kapanen scored again in the game’s final minute on a pass from Brendan Shanahan, who had three assists. Glen Wesley also scored for Hartford.

“I’ve dreamed about games like this,” Kapanen said. “I will remember this the rest of my life. It hasn’t been a great season for me. This was unbelievable.”

Kapanen was sidelined for two months after taking a knee to the head by teammate Gerald Diduck on the first day of training camp. He was treated for blood clots in his head and lower back.

“He was tremendous out there tonight,” Shanahan said. “He gave us the spark to get back in this game.”

Whalers 5, Canadiens 3

Montreal 2 1 0 - 3

Hartford 1 0 4 - 5

First period-1, Montreal, Malakhov 4 (Damphousse, Rucinsky), 5:01 (pp). 2, Montreal, Damphousse 26 (Recchi), 5:27. 3, Hartford, Wesley 7 (Shanahan, Brown), 7:51 (pp). Second period-4, Montreal, Wilkie 1 (Bure, Rucinsky), 10:09 (pp). Third period-5, Hartford, Kapanen 2 (Shanahan, Brown), 5:35. 6, Hartford, Rice 7 (Featherstone, Brown), 10:02. 7, Hartford, Nikolishin 8 (Kron), 11:02. 8, Hartford, Kapanen 3 (Shanahan), 19:02.

Shots on goal-Montreal 5-12-4-21. Hartford 13-11-11-35.Power-play opp.-Montreal 2 of 6; Hartford 1 of 6.Goalies-Montreal, Jablonski 4-7-5 (33 shots-29 saves), Theodore (11:02 third, 2-1). Hartford, Burke 20-20-4 (21-18).A-14,311 (15,635).

Lightning 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

Toronto

Brian Bellows’ goal 1:42 into overtime capped a Tampa Bay rally from a two-goal deficit.

Jason Wiemer passed from behind the net and Bellows whacked at the puck as he was being pushed to the ice by defenseman Todd Gill at the side of the crease. The puck hopped over goalie Felix Potvin and the Lightning players performed a group hug as the capacity crowd of 15,700 sighed in disbelief.

Toronto was unbeaten in 22 previous overtime games (4-0-18) since a March 28, 1994, defeat in Vancouver.

Tampa Bay 0 0 2 1 - 3

Toronto 1 1 0 0 - 2

First Period-1, Toronto, Gagner 17 (Macoun, Sundin), 2:55. Second Period-2, Toronto, Gilmour 21 (Muller, Berg), 4:26. Third Period-3, Tampa Bay, Houlder 4 (Bradley, Hamrlak), 3:29 (pp). 4, Tampa Bay, Zamuner 13 (Bradley), 17:12. Overtime-5, Tampa Bay, Bellows 15 (Wieimer, Gratton), 1:42.

Shots on goal-Tampa Bay 12-12-19-4-47. Toronto 12-11-7-1-31.Power-play Opp.-Tampa Bay 1 of 5; Toronto 0 of 4.Goalies-Tampa Bay, Puppa 18-11-5 (31 shots-29. Toronto, Potvin 21-18-9 (47-44).A-15,746 (15,746).

Sabres 6, Penguins 3

Buffalo, N.Y.

Buffalo blew a three-goal lead before Dave Hannan, Pat LaFontaine and Randy Burridge scored third-period goals in a win over Pittsburgh.

The Sabres, who had scored two or fewer goals in eight straight games, beat the Penguins for the first time since March 2, 1995. Buffalo goaltender Dominik Hasek made 40 saves.

LaFontaine started the scoring in the first period and put the game away on a wrap-around with 1:30 remaining. Burridge also scored twice, including an empty-net goal with 56 seconds remaining.

Pittsburgh 0 0 3 - 3

Buffalo 0 3 3 - 6

First period-None. Second period-1, Buffalo, LaFontaine 24 (Galley), 3:44 (pp). 2, Buffalo, Burridge 18 (Plante, Shannon), 4:39. 3, Buffalo, Galley 9 (Zhitnik, May), 11:48 (pp). Third period-4, Puittsburgh, Nedved 26 (Francis, Jagr), :40. 5, Pittsburgh, Nedved 27 (Jagr, Leroux), 5:42. 6, Pittsburgh, Naslund 16 (Mironov, Leroux), 9:49. 7, Buffalo, Hannan 6 (Hughes, Ray), 11:09. 8, Buffalo, LaFontaine 25 (Khmylev, Galley), 18:30. 9, Buffalo, Burridge 19 (Shannon, Plante), 19:04 (en).

Shots on goal-Pittsburgh 18-6-19-43. Buffalo 11-19-10-40.Power-play opp.-Pittsburgh 0 of 6; Buffalo 2 of 8.Goalies-Pittsburgh, Barrasso 20-8-2 (39 shots-34 saves). Buffalo, Hasek 16-21-5 (43-40).A-13,294 (16,230).

Panthers 4, Devils 1

East Rutherford, N.J.

Scott Mellanby and Stu Barnes scored 1:25 apart in the second period and Mark Fitzpatrick had 30 saves as Florida defeated New Jersey.

Radek Dvorak and Mike Hough also scored as Florida posted its fourth straight win over the Stanley Cup champions since dropping the season opener.

Bobby Holik got the Devils’ goal at 8:23 of the third period after Fitzpatrick misplayed a dump-in pass behind his net and the puck skipped in front to Holik.

Florida 0 2 2 - 4

New Jersey 0 0 1 - 1

First period-None. Second period-1, Florida, Mellanby 28 (Garpenlov, R.Niedermayer), 16:33. 2, Florida, Barnes 16, 17:58. Third period-3, Florida, Dvorak 13 (Fitzgerald), 2:40. 4, New Jersey, Holik 7, 8:23. 5, Florida, Hough 6 (Carkner), 19:44 (en).

Shots on goal-Florida 5-10-6-21. New Jersey 11-6-14-31.Power-play opp.-Florida 0 of 3; New Jersey 0 of 5.Goalies-Florida, Fitzpatrick 15-6-2 (31 shots-30 saves). New Jersey, Brodeur 22-22-8 (20-17).A-15,872 (19,040).

Canucks 5, Jets 3

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Alex Mogilny scored twice and Tim Hunter had the winner as Vancouver beat Winnipeg to reach the .500 mark.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Jets as they struggle to hold the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Jyrki Lumme and Trevor Linden also scored for Vancouver, while Mike Stapleton, Craig Muni and Ed Olczyk connected for Winnipeg.

Vancouver 1 2 2 - 5

Winnipeg 2 1 0 - 3

First period-1, Vancouver, Lumme 13 (Tikkanen, Mogilny), 3:00 (pp). 2, Winnipeg, Stapleton 6 (Maciver, Tkachuk), 9:53 (pp). 3, Winnipeg, Muni 1, 15:43. Second period-4, Vancouver, Linden 25 (Murzyn, Lumme), 9:48. 5, Vancouver, Mogilny 47 (Linden, Tikkanen), 12:46 (pp). 6, Winnipeg, Olczyk 20 (Tverdovsky, Tkachuk), 14:48 (pp). Third period-7, Vancouver, Hunter 2 (Dowd, Walker), 4:53. 8, Vancouver, Mogilny 48 (Linden), 19:55 (en).

Shots on goal-Vancouver 10-14-8-32. Winnipeg 15-8-13-36.Power-play opp.-Vancouver 2 of 5; Winnipeg 2 of 6.Goalies-Vancouver, McLean 11-13-8 (36 shots-33 saves). Winnipeg, Khabibulin 15-12-1 (31-27).A-8,592 (15,393).

Oilers 7, Kings 2

Edmonton, Alberta

Center Doug Weight scored one goal and assisted on another to lift Edmonton over Los Angeles

The Oilers’ win snapped a three-game losing streak and moved the team within two points of the Kings and Winnipeg Jets, currently tied for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

Weight, playing with a broken nose, back spasms, bruised ribs and an injured hip, raised his season points total to a career-best 75, on 18 goals and 57 assists.

Los Angeles 1 0 1 - 2

Edmonton 3 1 3 - 7

First period-1, Los Angeles, Gretzky 15 (Churla, Khristich), 8:27. 2, Edomonton, Marchant 11 (Buchberger), 12:36 (sh). 3, Edmonton, Ciger 24 (Weight, Anderson), 14:31. 4, Edmonton, Intranuovo 1 (Marchant), 16:56. Second period-5, Edmonton, Weight 18 (Anderson, Ciger), 4:46. Third period-6, Edmonton, Dufresne 1 (Marchant, Buchberger), 1:53. 7, Edmonton, Czerkawski 10 (Buchberger, Thornton), 4:21. 8, Los Angeles, Yachmenev 15 (Larouche, Stevens), 7:13. 9, Edmonton, De Vries 1 (Czerkawski, Marchant), 18:54.

Shots on goal-Los Angeles 16-9-8-33. Edmonton 10-12-13-35.Power-play opp.-Los Angeles 0 of 6; Edmonton 0 of 4.Goalies-Los Angeles, Hrudey 5-10-8 (35 shots-28 saves). Edmonton, Joseph 7-7-0 (33-31).A-13,537 (16,230).

Mighty Ducks 4, Bruins 3 (OT)

Anaheim, Calif.

Alex Hicks scored his second goal of the game with 3:25 left in overtime and Paul Kariya also scored twice as Anaheim beat Boston.

Joe Sacco set up both goals by Hicks, who skated down the right wing and veered toward the slot before sending a low wrist shot through Craig Billington’s pads for his ninth goal of the season.

Hicks scored only once in his previous 17 games.

Boston 0 1 2 0 - 3

Anaheim 0 1 2 1 - 4

First period-None. Second period-1, Anaheim, Kariya 32 (Selanne), :39. 2, Boston, Tocchet 16 (Donato, Heinze), 15:59. Third period-3, Boston, Mullen 5 (McLaren, T.Sweeney), 4:32. 4, Anaheim, Kariya 33 (York, Dollas), 9:42. 5, Anaheim, Hicks 8 (J.Sacco), 9:58. 6, Boston, T.Sweeney 2 (Oates), 15:04.

Overtime-7, Anaheim, Hicks 9 (J.Sacco, Ladouceur), 2:35.

Shots on goal-Boston 10-9-8-0-27. Anaheim 8-6-7-2-23.Power-play opp.-Boston 0 of 2; Anaheim 0 of 3.Goalies-Boston, Ranford (8 shots-8 saves), Billington 10-13-2 (0:00 second, 15-11). Anaheim, Shtalenkov 6-13-2 (27-24).A-17,174 (17,174).

Around the NHL

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie defenseman Stefan Bergkvist underwent an emergency appendectomy in Buffalo and will be out indefinitely… . At Duarte, Calif., Milos Holan of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, diagnosed last fall with leukemia, received a bone-marrow transplant… . San Jose Sharks goaltender Arturs Irbe, on the injured-reserve list since Jan. 18 because of a knee sprain, underwent exploratory arthroscopic surgery.