Leetch, Gonchar Spark Their New Teams

Brian Leetch and Sergei Gonchar gave their new teams an immediate boost. Leetch had three assists to help the Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 6-2 in Toronto on Thursday night. Gonchar

Friday, March 5th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Brian Leetch and Sergei Gonchar gave their new teams an immediate boost.

Leetch had three assists to help the Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 6-2 in Toronto on Thursday night.

Gonchar scored in his debut with the Boston Bruins, a 3-1 victory over the visiting New York Rangers.

``It was a relief,'' Gonchar said. ``You want to do the best you can, and then you score a goal in your first game and the team wins. What else would you want?''

Leetch sounded a little less thrilled despite the move to a playoff contender. After getting traded Wednesday by the Rangers, the star defenseman donned a different uniform for the first time in his 17-season NHL career.

He said he would have preferred to finish his career in New York, and didn't seem happy that he wasn't consulted before the deal.

``It's done with now,'' said Leetch, who learned of the trade when he got a call in a hotel room in Boston. ``It was a 212 number from New York City and I said, `This is probably not good.'''

The two-time Norris Trophy winner was at the top of his game, however, setting up two power-play goals by Bryan McCabe and one by Mats Sundin.

``Everything went well right off the bat,'' Leetch said. ``It made it a lot easier for me. It's been a whirlwind day.''

In other NHL games, it was: Nashville 9, Pittsburgh 4; Edmonton 1, St. Louis 1; and Minnesota 1, Los Angeles 1.

Robert Reichel, Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won three straight with No. 1 goaltender Ed Belfour back in net.

Excited that Leetch might improve Toronto's chances to win its first Stanley Cup since 1967, fans gave him a huge ovation when he was introduced before the game.

``I expect him to have a four- or five-point night from here on in every night,'' Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn joked. ``He was very good.''

Gonchar, the All-Star defenseman acquired Wednesday from Washington, gave Boston a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal 9:51 into the third. He took a pass from newly acquired center and former Capitals teammate Michael Nylander and beat Mike Dunham from just inside the blue line for his eighth goal of the season.

Joe Thornton scored twice, helping the Bruins end a four-game winless streak.

Nylander was obtained earlier in the day from Washington for a second-round draft pick in 2006 and future considerations

``The confidence in the room just goes up with adding two guys like that. You have extra jump in your legs and that's what happened tonight,'' Thornton said.

Jaromir Jagr scored late in the third period for the Rangers, who managed only 17 shots on goal in their first game since trading Leetch, Alex Kovalev and Petr Nedved.

Predators 9, Penguins 4

At Pittsburgh, Dan Hamhuis scored a goal during a five-point night and Nashville quickly built a five-goal lead in extending Pittsburgh's home winless streak to 16 games.

The Penguins are 0-15-1 at home since Dec. 29 and can tie the NHL record for longest home winless streak against Anaheim on Saturday night. The Ottawa Senators went 0-15-2 during a 17-game skid in 1995-96.

The Penguins rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 6-1 to cut Nashville's lead to 6-4 midway through the third on Dick Tarnstrom's goal, but David Legwand scored his 15th of the season less than a minute later to start a burst of three Nashville goals in the final eight minutes.

Adam Hall scored two of the Predators' four goals in the third period.

Oilers 1, Blues 1

At St. Louis, Chris Osgood made 31 saves, including a penalty shot by Edmonton's Ryan Smyth.

The Blues earned only their second point in five games under new coach Mike Kitchen. They're 0-3-2 in that span, totaling five goals, and 0-5-2 in their last seven overall.

Alexander Khavanov ended a 62-game goal drought early in the third period for the Blues, and Raffi Torres got his 19th to force overtime. Petr Nedved had an assist in his first game with Edmonton since being acquired from the Rangers.

Jussi Markkanen, also part of the deal, stopped eight shots in overtime for the Oilers.

Wild 1, Kings 1

At Los Angeles, Jason Wiemer scored with 2:17 left in the third period and Minnesota barely avoided its third shutout in five games.

Luc Robitaille scored late in the first period for the Kings, and Cristobal Huet stopped 31 shots, including a breakaway by Marian Gaborik late in the second period. Six of Huet's saves came in overtime.

The Kings remained eighth in the Western Conference playoff chase, one point behind seventh-place Calgary and four ahead of St. Louis.

The Wild are 0-4-2 in their last six games.