NHL Capsules

<br>TAMPA, Florida (AP) _ Ed Belfour came within 96 seconds of his sixth shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Thursday night. <br><br>With goalie Kevin Hodson

Friday, December 20th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TAMPA, Florida (AP) _ Ed Belfour came within 96 seconds of his sixth shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Thursday night.

With goalie Kevin Hodson pulled for an extra skater, the Lightning spoiled Belfour's bid when Brad Richards scored with 1:36 remaining. Belfour, who made 29 saves, has allowed just 12 goals in nine road games.

Robert Reichel and Alexander Mogilny scored for Toronto, which has won seven straight against Tampa Bay. The Maple Leafs are 27-8-1 against the Lightning, 15-2 at Tampa Bay.

Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn earned his 543rd win, moving him past Billy Reay into fifth place on the career list.

Canadiens 3, Rangers 1

In New York, Jose Theodore stopped 41 shots, and Yanic Perreault scored two goals to lead Montreal past New York.

Doug Gilmour assisted on both of Perreault's goals, giving him seven points in the last three games. Montreal took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal at 10:27 of the first period by Richard Zednik.

Eric Lindros pulled New York within 3-1 at 11:04 of the third period.

Senators 9, Sharks 3

In Ottawa, Magnus Arvedson scored twice, and Daniel Alfredsson had four assists as Ottawa beat San Jose.

Despite being outshot 33-23, Ottawa had its highest scoring game of the season to win its second straight.

Anton Volchenkov had a goal and two assists for the Senators, who also got goals from Marian Hossa, Wade Redden, Martin Havlat, Steve Martins, Mike Fisher and Todd White.

Ottawa, which won 3-0 in New Jersey on Wednesday, is 14-2-3 since a 7-1 loss in Boston on Nov. 9.

Marco Sturm, Teemu Selanne and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks.

Flames 3, Blue Jackets 0

In Colombus, Ohio, Marc Denis made 29 saves for his fifth career shutout, and Lasse Pirjeta scored twice as Columbus defeated Calgary.

Tomi Kallio also scored and rookie defenseman Duvie Westcott assisted on both of Pirjeta's goals.

Columbus is 5-0 at home against Calgary, having outscored the Flames 19-8. The Blue Jackets have won seven of their last 11 home games.

Calgary returned to Columbus for the first time since March 16 when 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil was struck by a puck and died two days later.

Devils 3, Penguins 1

In Pittsburgh, Joe Nieuwendyk snapped a 20-game goal-less streak and set up another goal as New Jersey ran Pittsburgh's losing streak to a near-record 10 games.

Ivor Tverdovsky and Brian Gionta also scored as New Jersey, a lethargic 3-0 loser to Ottawa on Wednesday, ended a three-game losing streak.

This is the Penguins' second 10-game winless streak since the end of last season, when they went 0-8-1-1 in their final 10, but that streak included a tie.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Penguins have had only one longer losing streak in their 35-year history, an 11-game streak from Jan. 22, 1983, through Feb. 10, 1983, the year before Mario Lemieux arrived.

Milan Kraft scored for Pittsburgh, which didn't get a point from Lemieux _ the NHL's leading scorer _ for the third straight game.

Capitals 5, Bruins 3

In Washington, Peter Bondra scored two goals, and Washington weathered a furious comeback to hand Boston its fifth straight loss.

Olaf Kolzig had 36 saves for the Capitals, who took a 4-0 lead into the third period but needed a late goal by Steve Konowalchuk to secure the victory.

Brian Rolston had two goals and an assist for Boston. He set up a power-play goal by Joe Thornton with 15 minutes left, then scored 38 seconds later to make it 4-2.

Mike Grier and Rick Berry also scored for Washington, which won despite being outshot 39-18.

The Bruins' five-game losing streak is their longest since they lost five in a row Feb. 16-24, 2001.

Islanders 4, Wild 2

In St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota native Mark Parrish scored two goals Thursday night as New York beat Minnesota.

Rick DiPietro, recalled Wednesday in an effort to improve the Islanders' goaltending situation, survived a shaky start to record 15 saves in his first NHL victory since March 20, 2001. The victory ended a four-game winless streak for the Islanders.

Michael Peca and Dave Scatchard had the other Islanders goals.

Sergei Zholtok and Cliff Ronning scored for the Wild.

Stars 1, Red Wings 1

In Detroit, Philippe Boucher's goal 4:43 into the third period lifted Dallas into a tie with Detroit.

It was the third tie this season between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference. Dallas is first with 45 points (18-7-8-1) and Detroit is third with 41 (17-8-6-1). Dallas leads the Pacific Division and Detroit tops the Central.

Brendan Shanahan scored the first goal of the game with 3:19 left in the second period.

Manny Legace finished 30 saves for Detroit. Dallas' Marty Turco stopped 29 shots.

Canucks 3, Predators 1

In Nashville, Tennessee, Matt Cooke's two assists sparked Vancouver to a victory over Nashville.

Ed Jovanovski, Tomas Vokoun, and Sami Salo scored for the Canucks. Salo's goal, an empty-netter with four seconds left, was the first allowed by Nashville this season.

Denis Pederson gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period.

Avalanche 2, Oilers 1

In Denver, Patrick Roy stopped 31 shots to help Tony Granato win his NHL coaching debut as Colorado beat Edmonton.

Granato, who replaced Bob Hartley on Wednesday, was known as a feisty player in his 13 NHL seasons and that seemed to rub off on the Avalanche.

Colorado came out hitting from the start and peppered Edmonton goalie Tommy Salo with 29 shots to win for just the fourth time in 16 home games.

Alex Tanguay and Dean McAmmond each scored to make up for the absences of stars Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic, who have missed three straight games.

Edmonton's only goal came with 1.2 seconds left, when Mike York slipped a shot under Roy's glove.

Kings 5, Mighty Ducks 4

In Los Angeles, Brad Chartrand tied it with his second goal of the game and Bryan Smolinski converted on a power play with 2:29 left as Los Angeles beat Anaheim.

Craig Johnson and rookie Alexander Frolov scored second-period goals for the Kings, who ended the Ducks' five-game winning streak after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period.

Paul Kariya triggered Anaheim's failed comeback with his 15th goal on a breakaway with 17:31 remaining. Niclas Havelid and Stanislav Chistov scored 68 seconds apart on power plays. Steve Rucchin also scored with the man advantage, and Adam Oates had two assists.