Philadelphia flies to 6-2 win over Canadiens

<br>PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Michal Handzus scored twice during a 2:10 span in the second period Thursday night to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. <br><br>The Flyers

Friday, October 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Michal Handzus scored twice during a 2:10 span in the second period Thursday night to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

The Flyers are 4-1-2 under new coach Ken Hitchcock. Montreal is winless in its last three games.

Keith Primeau also had two goals and Marty Murray and Pavel Brendl each scored one for Philadelphia. Saku Koivu and Richard Zednik had Montreal's goals.

Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore was chased when Handzus' shorthanded goal made it 4-1. Theodore, the NHL MVP and Vezina Trophy winner for best goaltender last season, is 1-3-1 and has allowed 20 goals in five games.

Flyers goalie Roman Cechmanek made 18 saves.

Islanders 5, Panthers 3

In Uniondale, New York, Alexei Yashin scored in the last minute of the second period to pace New York over Florida.

Kenny Jonsson, Claude Lapointe, Adrian Aucoin and Aaron Asham also scored for New York, which got 18 saves from Chris Osgood including a big glove stop on Stephane Matteau with four minutes left.

Matteau, Lance Ward and Brad Ference had the Panthers goals. Roberto Luongo turned aside 36 shots as Florida's two-game winning streak was snapped.

New York made it 1-1 with its first power-play goal in 24 opportunities, and fourth in 47 tries when Jonsson scored. The Islanders finished 2-of-7 with the man-advantage.

Bruins 2, Senators 2

In Boston, Brian Rolston scored to tie it in the third period and Steve Shields stopped 30 shots to remain unbeaten as Boston celebrated Terry O'Reilly Night by tying Ottawa.

Jason Spezza, the Senators' top prospect who was making his NHL debut, made a nifty pass to assist in Ottawa's second goal scored by Marian Hossa.

Hal Gill also scored for Boston. Daniel Alfredsson had the other Ottawa goal.

Patrick Lalime stopped 26 shots for Ottawa, which has not lost since a 3-1 loss to New Jersey in its season opener.

The Bruins retired O'Reilly's No. 24 before the game with a ceremony in which Ray Bourque called the former captain ``the ultimate Bruin.''

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Sharks 2, Predators 1

In Nashville, Tennessee, Teemu Selanne scored in the first period and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 20 shots as San Jose beat winless Nashville.

The Predators have lost six games by one goal, but this one shouldn't have been this close as San Jose took a season-best 34 shots.

Kiprusoff lost his bid for his third career shutout in the third when Andy Delmore scored a power-play goal at 9:54 off an assist from goalie Tomas Vokoun.

The Sharks began a six-game road trip with only their second victory this season. Jonathan Cheechoo helped seal it with a second-period goal, the first point of his NHL career.

Wild 3, Blackhawks 2

In Chicago, Andrew Brunette scored twice in the third period and backup goalie Dwayne Roloson stopped 24 shots for his first win this season as Minnesota beat Chicago.

The Wild improved to 5-1-1, their best record after seven games in the team's three-year history.

Pascal Dupuis also scored for Minnesota and Cliff Ronning added two assists.

Sergei Berezin and Jason Strudwick scored for Chicago, which received 20 saves from Jocelyn Thibault.

Blues 2, Oilers 1

In Edmonton, Alberta, Keith Tkachuk snapped a tie at 14:28 of the third period and Cody Rudkowsky made 10 saves in relief for his NHL debut to lead St. Louis over Edmonton.

Rudkowsky replaced injured rookie starter Curtis Sanford midway through the second period and came up with some key saves, including a great stop on Jiri Dopita's hard shot from the slot with 8 minutes remaining.

Former Oilers captain Doug Weight had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who won their fourth straight.

Mike Comrie scored for Edmonton, which lost for the fourth time in five games.

Stars 3, Flames 3

In Calgary, Alberta, Jere Lehtinen scored with 2:49 remaining in the third period to lift Dallas into a tie with Calgary.

Dallas led 2-1 entering the third period, but goals less than two minutes apart by Craig Conroy and Chris Clark gave the Flames their first lead.

Jamie Wright also scored for Calgary, winless in four home games this season. After dropping their first two games, the Flames have points in five of six games.

Rob DiMaio and Mike Modano also scored for Dallas, which began a three-game Western Canada road trip.

Avalanche 3, Coyotes 2

In Phoenix, Mike Keane scored the go-ahead goal as Colorado rallied from a two-point deficit to defeat Phoenix in Patrick Roy's record-setting 972nd game.

Roy, who passed Terry Sawchuk for the most appearances by a goaltender, had 27 saves while extending NHL leadership in career wins to 519.

Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk, who assisted on Tanguay's goal, also scored for the Avalanche. Joe Sakic had two assists.

Tony Amonte scored the Phoenix goals, both in the first period.

Roy was flawless on 17 chances to improve to 3-0-1 in his last four starts.

Canucks 2, Mighty Ducks 2

In Vancouver, British Columbia, Paul Kariya scored a shorthanded goal in the third period for Anaheim, which lost Adam Oates to a broken left hand in a tie with Vancouver.

Oates, who led the NHL last season in assists, said after the game that hospital X-rays revealed a break in two places. It was not immediately known how long he will be out.

He was injured on a slash late in the first period.

Mighty Ducks rookie Martin Gerber made 30 saves as Anaheim rallied twice to earn the tie.

Andy McDonald also scored for the Mighty Ducks, who also tied the Canucks 2-2 in Anaheim just six days earlier. They are unbeaten in three games (1-0-2).

Brendan Morrison and Jan Hlavac, with his first goal of the season, scored for the Canucks. Vancouver is unbeaten in four games with a win and three 2-2 ties.