Ballard sparks Coyotes to another victory

Keith Ballard scored a short-handed goal with 1:08 left in overtime to give the Phoenix Coyotes their second straight victory since coach Wayne Gretzky returned to the team, a 6-5 decision over Los Angeles on Thursday night at Glendale, Ariz.

Ballard took a deflected clearing pass from Mike Ricci near center ice and fired the puck over Jason LaBarbera’s right shoulder for his second goal of the game.

Ladislav Nagy had a goal and three assists for the Coyotes, who beat San Jose 5-4 on the road Wednesday night in Gretzky’s first game back. He returned after a 10-day leave of absence to be with his mother, who died of lung cancer Dec. 19.

Paul Mara also scored twice, Mike Comrie had a goal and Shane Doan added three assists to help Phoenix move a point ahead of Colorado for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Flyers 3, Hurricanes 3: In Raleigh, N.C., Sami Kapanen scored in overtime for the second straight game after Simon Gagne tied it midway through the third period, and Philadelphia beat Carolina.

Penguins 6, Devils 2: At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby had his second two-goal game in three games and Marc-Andre Fleury made 44 saves to help Pittsburgh defeat New Jersey and end a six-game losing streak. Michel Therrien got his first victory as Pittsburgh’s coach after 15 days and four consecutive one-goal losses.

Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 3 (SO): At Toronto, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in regulation and again in a shootout to help Toronto defeat Buffalo for its fourth straight win.

Stars 3, Blues 0: At Dallas, Marty Turco made 17 saves for his third shutout of the season and 24th of his career, and Bill Guerin, Sergei Zubov and Jere Lehtinen had power-play goals in a win over St. Louis.

Flames 4, Wild 2: At Calgary, Alberta, Richie Regehr, in his first NHL game, set up Steven Reinprecht’s goal that snapped a third-period tie as Calgary topped Minnesota.