Lafontaine Paces Streaking Sabres
NHL
Pat LaFontaine recorded his 13th career hat trick, and Dominik Hasek made 45 saves to lead the Buffalo Sabres to their third straight victory, a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Buffalo, N.Y.
Buffalo has put together its best stretch of the season with victories against Florida, Pittsburgh and New Jersey - beating three of the Eastern Conference’s top four teams by a combined score of 19-6.
Sabres 6, Panthers 1
Florida 0 0 1 - 1
Buffalo 2 3 1 - 6
First period-1, Buffalo, LaFontaine 28 (Plante, Galley), 1:59 (pp). 2, Buffalo, Pearson 3 (Pecca), 9:04. Second period-3, Buffalo, Grosek 2 (May), 2:52. 4, Buffalo, LaFontaine 29 (Galley), 7:29. 5, Buffalo, LaFontaine 30 (Grosek, Zhitnik), 18:17 (pp). Third period-6, Florida, Carkner 3 (Fitzgerald, Niedermayer), 7:24 (pp). 7, Buffalo, Grosek 3 (Khymlev), 13:03.
Shots on goal-Florida 10-16-20-46. Buffalo 9-15-7-31.Power-play opp.-Florida 1 of 5; Buffalo 2 of 7.Goalies-Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 20-12-5 (31 shots-25 saves). Buffalo, Hasek 18-21-5 (46-45).A-13,809 (16,230).
Stars 6, Whalers 2
Hartford, Conn.
Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk scored their second goals a minute apart in the second period, and Dallas went on to beat Hartford.
Former Spokane Chief Darcy Wakaluk made 24 saves on 26 shots for Dallas before leaving with 6:37 remaining in the game after getting hit hard in the left knee with the puck. Andy Moog stopped the last four shots by the Whalers.
Dallas 1 4 1 - 6
Hartford 1 1 0 - 2
First period-1, Hartford, Ranheim 7 (Nikolishin), 1:25. 2, Dallas, Modano 29, 2:33. Second period-3, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 9 (Huard, Kennedy), 3:05. 4, Hartford, Sanderson 25 (Cassels), 3:46. 5, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 10, 16:06. 6, Dallas, Modano 30 (Hogue, Lehtinen), 17:01. 7, Dallas, Lehtinen 5 (Modano), 19:33. Third period-8, Dallas, Adams 19 (D.Hatcher, Ledyard), 14:27.
Shots on goal-Dallas 13-14-7-34. Hartford 11-8-11-30.Power-play opp.-Dallas 0 of 5; Hartford 0 of 5.Goalies-Dallas, Wakaluk 7-14-5 (26 shots-24 saves), Moog (13:23 third, 4-4). Hartford, Burke 20-22-4 (27-22), Muzzatti (0:00 third, 7-6).A-11,143 (15,635).
Mighty Ducks 4, Sharks 3
Anaheim, Calif.
Teemu Selanne returned to the Mighty Ducks’ lineup following the birth of his son and scored Anaheim’s first three goals in a win over San Jose.
San Jose 1 1 1 - 3
Anaheim 2 2 0 - 4
First period-1, Anaheim, Selanne 29 (Dollas, Jomphe), 10:17. 2, San Jose, Sykora 4 (Janney, Racine), 14:43 (pp). 3, Anaheim, Selanne 30 (York, Jomphe), 16:35. Second period-4, Anaheim, Selanne 31 (Van Allen, Sillinger), 1:07. 5, Anaheim, Sillinger 12 (Krygier, Selanne), 10:39 (pp). 6, San Jose, Miller 20 (Janney), 14:25. Third period-7, San Jose, Janney 11 (Nolan, Ragnarsson), 1:01.
Shots on goal-San Jose 8-8-9-25. Anaheim 12-14-5-31.Power-play opp.-San Jose 2 of 5; Anaheim 1 of 5.Goalies-San Jose, Terreri 11-25-1 (31 shots-27 saves). Anaheim, Hebert 16-20-3 (25-22).A-17,174 (17,174).
Islanders 2, Oilers 0
Uniondale, N.Y.
Tommy Soderstrom stopped 25 shots for his second shutout this season, and Zigmund Palffy and Scott Lachance scored second-period power play goals as New York beat Edmonton.
Edmonton 0 0 0 - 0
N.Y. Islanders 0 2 0 - 2
First period-None. Second period-1, New York, Palffy 25 (Straka, Clark), 11:36 (pp). 2, New York, Lachance 3 (Schneider, Palffy), 17:28 (pp). Third period-None.
Shots on goal-Edmonton 11-5-9-25. New York 4-12-3-19.Power-play opp.-Edmonton 0 of 6; New York 2 of 4.Goalies-Edmonton, Joseph 7-9-0 (19 shots-17 saves). New York, Soderstrom 10-14-6 (25-25).A-12,090 (16,297).
Flyers 3, Blackhawks 2
Philadelphia
Kjell Samuelsson’s slap shot with 20 seconds left in the game banked off Chris Chelios’ skate and lifted Philadelphia past Chicago.
Chicago, which was 6-2-2 in its previous 10 road games, has now dropped three straight overall.
Chicago 1 1 0 - 2
Philadelphia 1 1 1 - 3
First period-1, Philadelphia, Lindros 39 (Desjardins, Quinn), 11:51. 2, Chicago, Roenick 29 (Craven), 18:38. Second period-3, Philadelphia, LeClair 32 (Lindros, Desjardins), 6:51 (pp). 4, Chicago, Savard 9 (Suter), 10:15 (pp). Third period-5, Philadelphia, Samuelsson 3 (Quinn, Lindros), 19:39.
Shots on goal-Chicago 5-8-6-19. Philadelphia 17-6-8-31.Power-play opportunities-Chicago 1 of 3. Philadelphia 1 of 4.Goalies-Chicago, Belfour 16-12-8 (31 shots28 saves). Philadelphia, Hextall 20-9-5 (19-17).A-17,380 (17,380).
Avalanche 4, Senators 2
Denver
Scott Young and Peter Forsberg scored in the final 3:48, backing the solid goaltending of Patrick Roy as Colorado beat Ottawa. Ottawa, outhustling the Avalanche, had a 45-27 advantage in shots on goal but little to show for it until Daniel Alfredsson and Trent McCleary ruined Roy’s shutout bid in the third period.
Ottawa goalie Damian Rhodes started his 16th straight game, a franchise record.
Ottawa 0 0 2 - 2
Colorado 1 1 2 - 4
First period-1, Colorado, Lefebvre 3 (Sakic), :56. Second period-2, Colorado, Rychel 3 (Klemm), 14:33. Third period-3, Ottawa, Alfredsson 20 (Hill, McCleary), 3:22 (sh). 4, Ottawa, McCleary 3 (Demitra, Elynuik), 14:27. 5, Colorado, Young 17 (Corbet, Ricci), 16:12. 6, Colorado, Forsberg 25, 18:33.
Shots on goal-Ottawa 11-18-16-45. Colorado 4-12-11-27.Power-play opp.-Ottawa 0 of 5; Colorado 0 of 2.Goalies-Ottawa, Rhodes 8-15-3 (27 shots-23 saves). Colorado, Roy 24-18-2 (45-43).A-16,061 (16,061).