Florida Pulls Past Tampa Bay In East

Around the NHL

Robert Svehla broke a tie with the first of three third-period goals for the Florida Panthers, who took over the lead in the Eastern Conference by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 Wednesday night at Miami.

Florida moved one point ahead of idle Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division.

Despite a recent rash of injuries, the Panthers extended their unbeaten streak to five games and improved to 6-1-3 in the past 10 games.

At Hartford, Conn., Dave Andreychuk scored late in the third period as the New Jersey Devils extended their season-high undefeated string to eight games with a 3-2 win over the Hartford Whalers.

Gretzky back in St. Louis

Almost a year after Wayne Gretzky briefly became a St. Louis Blue, he’s returning to town to face the team he jilted.

His ex-teammates never took it personally. They’re hoping the fans don’t boo tonight because Gretzky’s wearing No. 99 for the New York Rangers.

“I think it’ll be positive,” Geoff Courtnall said. “Wayne wanted to stay here, Wayne wanted to play in St. Louis. No doubt about it.”