NHL roundup

Friday, January 17th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Joe Sacco, playing in his first game with Philadelphia, scored the tiebreaker early in the third period Thursday to help the Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.

Sacco, a 12-year veteran who was signed to a free-agent contract Wednesday, threw the puck toward the front of the net. Michal Handzus spun around, shot between his legs and hit the post. Sacco then skated in and hammered home the rebound to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 3:04 of the final period. It was his first goal since March 30, 2001, when he was playing for the Washington Capitals.

Handzus flipped in a wrist shot from the slot with 4:09 remaining to make it 3-1, and Chris Therien scored an empty-net goal with 13 seconds left.

Senators 3, Mighty Ducks 1

In Ottawa, Martin Prusek came within 5:41 of recording Ottawa's fourth consecutive shutout and Marian Hossa scored his 29th and 30th goals as the Senators increased their league-leading points total to 64.

Prusek stopped 23 of 24 shots, extending Ottawa's team-record shutout streak to 244 minutes, 47 seconds before allowing Stanislav Chistov's power-play goal with less than six minutes remaining.

Hossa, who was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team during the game, scored his 12th power-play goal of the season in the first period and added his second of the game 4:27 into the third.

Wild 5, Canucks 2

In St. Paul, Minnesota, Pascal Dupuis recorded the first two-goal game of his career and Marian Gaborik had a goal and three assists to lead Minnesota over Vancouver.

Dupuis' second goal came with 8:33 remaining in the game after Trent Klatt had pulled the Canucks to 3-2. Dupuis took a nice pass from Gaborik on a two-on-one break to beat Dan Cloutier and give Minnesota a 4-2 lead.

Gaborik, who became the franchise's first-ever NHL All-Star selection earlier in the day, broke his seven-game goalless streak with an empty-net goal with 1:58 to play.

Islanders 3, Blues 2, OT

In St. Louis, Oleg Kvasha scored on a backhander with 3:01 remaining in overtime as New York rebounded from a shutout loss 24 hours earlier to beat St. Louis.

The Islanders had lost twice in overtime in their previous four games, including 5-0 to New Jersey on Wednesday. Kvasha broke in on Brent Johnson on the winner, converting New York's only shot of the extra period for his fifth goal and second in three games.

Pavol Demitra forced overtime when he scored with 3:51 to go in regulation off a goalie-freezing setup from Al MacInnis as the Blues rallied from a two-goal deficit to salvage a point.

Cory Stillman also scored for the Blues, who struggled most of the night after returning from a 3-1-0-1 road trip. St. Louis had a 12-4 shots advantage in the third period.

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 2

In Denver, Brendan Shanahan scored two goals in the third period as Detroit beat Colorado in a rematch of last year's Western Conference finals.

Colorado seemed to have the momentum after rallying from an early two-goal deficit, but a mistake by defenseman Adam Foote allowed the Red Wings to win their third consecutive game against the Avs.

The Avalanche had already made a line change when Joe Sakic flipped the puck back to Foote near the door to Colorado's bench. Foote skated off and let the puck go, allowing Shanahan to beat Patrick Roy to the far post with 7:18 remaining.

Shanahan added an empty-net goal, his 16th of the season.

Oilers 2, Kings 0

In Edmonton, Alberta, Tommy Salo made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as Edmonton beat Los Angeles.

Salo wasn't really tested until the third period, when he held off a late Los Angeles charge for his 34th career shutout and first since a 3-0 win over Atlanta on Dec. 8.

Shawn Horcoff and Ryan Smyth scored for the Oilers, who are 5-1-1-0 in their last seven games.

The Kings are 2-8-0-0 in their last 10, including a 5-4 loss to Edmonton in Los Angeles on Jan. 9.

Predators 2, Flames 2

In Calgary, Alberta, Jarome Iginla scored the tying goal and added an assist as Calgary tied Nashville to end a four-game losing streak.

Iginla, named in the Western Conference all-star roster earlier in the night, tied the game at 4:58 of the third period _ 16 seconds after Nashville had gone up 2-1. The defending scoring champion had a chance to win the game in overtime, but he couldn't beat Thomas Vokoun on a breakaway.

Adam Hall's power-play goal had given Nashville its second one-goal lead of the night at 4:42 of the third period. Vladimir Orszagh also scored for the Predators, who are winless in three (0-2-1-0).

Sharks 2, Sabres 2

In San Jose, California, Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau scored 87 seconds apart in the third period for San Jose, but Chris Gratton's first goal in 14 games gave the Buffalo Sabres a tie.

Gratton scored with 9:24 remaining, capping 10 exciting minutes in an otherwise defense-oriented game. James Patrick's power-play goal 30 seconds into the third period snapped a scoreless duel between San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who made 23 saves, and Buffalo rookie Ryan Miller, who stopped 31 shots.

Both teams had outstanding scoring chances in overtime, but both goalies held on. With 10 seconds remaining, Vincent Damphousse rattled a shot off Miller's crossbar.