Gartner Labors In Near Obscurity Despite Numbers

He’s had little fanfare throughout his 18-year NHL career, so maybe it’s fitting that Mike Gartner’s latest milestone was overshadowed by a defeat.

The 37-year-old right winger became just the sixth player in league history to accumulate 600 career assists and 600 goals when he got two assists Saturday night against Dallas.

However, Gartner’s moment was lost when his Phoenix Coyotes blew a 4-1 lead and were beaten 5-4 in overtime.

“It seems a bit tempered because of the circumstances, but I’m sure that someday I’ll look back on it fondly,” Gartner said in a subdued Phoenix locker room.

“It’s been hanging there for a couple of weeks now, and there has been a lot of talk about it. It was kind of good to really just get it out of the way.”

Gartner, who has 685 career goals in 18 seasons, joins Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux as the only other players in the exclusive club.

“It’s like getting 500 homers and 3,000 base hits in the majors,” said Esposito, now general manager of the Tampa Bay Lighting. “It’s an absolutely great accomplishment.”

On the ice

Neal Broten’s goal with 43.1 seconds left in overtime lifted the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night.

The Central Division-leading Stars were a tired team after playing their fourth game in five nights.

Dave Gagner scored two goals and added an assist as the Calgary Flames won back-to-back games for the first time in a month with a 6-1 victory over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

Rob Niedermayer and Scott Mellanby scored power-play goals as the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 4-3 to move four points ahead of New York in the Atlantic Division and to within one point of first-place Philadelphia.