Havelid goal sends Atlanta past Rangers 3-1

Sunday, January 21st 2007, 6:53 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Niclas Havelid scored his second goal of the NHL season 4:09 into the third period to snap a tie and lift the Atlanta Thrashers over the New York Rangers 3-1 on Saturday.

The defenseman took the puck at the right point _ after Steve Rucchin won an offensive zone faceoff _ skated all the way down to the right post and flicked a short backhander that pinballed off goalie Henrik Lundqvist and between his pads.

Ilya Kovalchuk gave the Thrashers a 1-0 lead in the first period before Jaromir Jagr tied it just more than three minutes later. Marian Hossa sealed it with an empty-netter with 23.2 seconds left _ his NHL-leading 30th goal this season.

Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves and won for the third time in four starts.

The Rangers have killed 16 consecutive opposition power plays but haven't connected on their past 16.

Devils 4, Flyers 3, SO

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Brian Gionta scored the tying goal with 20.8 seconds remaining in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout to lead New Jersey over Philadelphia.

Gionta, first up for the Devils in the shootout, whipped the puck past Antero Niittymaki to cap New Jersey's comeback.

Simon Gagne, first for the Flyers in the shootout, fired wide and Martin Brodeur made saves on Peter Forsberg and Mike Richards.

Scott Gomez and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored for the Devils in regulation. New Jersey enters the All-Star break with a 13-point lead atop the Atlantic Division.

Ryan Potulny, Kyle Calder and Gagne scored for the Flyers, losers of eight straight.

Panthers 4, Capitals 1

At Washington, Martin Gelinas scored twice, and Ville Peltonen added a goal and an assist for Florida's victory.

The Panthers enjoyed a 42-18 advantage in shots. Olie Kolzig stopped 38 shots and Dainius Zubrus scored the game's first goal for Washington, but the Panthers took charge after that.

Jozef Stumpel also scored for Florida.

Penguins 8, Maple Leafs 2

At Pittsburgh, Mark Recchi scored three consecutive power-play goals and Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists to lead Pittsburgh past Toronto.

Evgeni Malkin had five assists, Sergei Gonchar had three assists and Jarkko Ruutu scored on a penalty shot goal for the Penguins, who were 5-for-9 on the power play. Pittsburgh also got goals from Jordan Staal, Michel Ouellet and Ryan Malone.

Recchi, who also added an assist, recorded the seventh hat trick of his career in a span of 16:57, starting late in the first period. Toronto got power-play goals from Jeff O'Neill in the first period and Brendan Bell in the third.

Sabres 4, Canucks 3, SO

At Buffalo, New York, Ales Kotalik scored the decisive shootout goal that rallied the Buffalo over Vancouver.

Chris Drury tied the score with 39.1 seconds left in the third period. Jason Pominville and Paul Gaustad also scored in regulation for the Sabres. Ryan Miller stopped 25 shots and allowed only one goal on four shootout attempts in helping Buffalo defeat one of the NHL's hottest teams.

Markus Naslund, Taylor Pyatt and Jan Bulis scored for the Canucks, who lost for only the second time in 12 games and had a six-game road win streak snapped.

Senators 3, Bruins 0

At Boston, Dany Heatley scored his team-leading 29th and 30th goals, and Ray Emery stopped 18 shots for his fourth shutout to lead Ottawa, which has won five straight road games and six of seven overall.

Chris Phillips also scored for Ottawa. Heatley's second goal was a short-handed, empty-netter.

Boston matched its lowest shot total this season in being shutout for just the second time. Hannu Toivonen stopped 36 shots, but couldn't win consecutive starts for the first time this season.

Predators 6, Blackhawks 3

At Nashville, Tennessee, David Legwand scored three goals and assisted on another to help Nashville send Chicago into the All-Star break on a nine-game losing streak.

The hat trick was Legwand's first. Martin Erat, Jean-Pierre Dumont and Kimmo Timonen also scored for Nashville.

Martin Havlat, Craig MacDonald and Duncan Keith scored for Chicago.

Lightning 6, Hurricanes 5, SO

At Raleigh, North Carolina, Vaclav Prospal scored on the final play of a shootout to lead Tampa Bay past Carolina.

Prospal and Martin St. Louis each had a goal and two assists to lead the Lightning, who twice erased two-goal deficits and scored late in the third to force overtime. Vincent Lecavalier, Paul Ranger and Filip Kuba also scored for Tampa Bay.

Eric Staal scored two goals for the Hurricanes, who suffered their second straight home loss. Ray Whitney and Andrew Ladd each added a goal and Scott Walker finished with a goal and two assists.

Avalanche 3, Red Wings 1

At Denver, Peter Budaj kept Colorado in it with 27 saves and Andrew Brunette scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, helping Colorado end a seven-game losing streak against Detroit.

Ian Laperriere scored his first goal in 36 games in the first period and Joe Sakic added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to give Colorado its sixth win in nine games. The Avalanche fired 31 shots at rookie goalie Joey MacDonald in just their fourth win in 17 games against Detroit.

Valtteri Pilppula scored for the Red Wings, who have followed a five-game winning streak with losses to Columbus and Colorado on consecutive nights.

Stars 2, Wild 1, SO

At St. Paul, Minnesota, Stu Barnes scored in the ninth round of a shootout to lift Dallas past Minnesota.

Barnes, who beat Niklas Backstrom for the winner, was the fifth player to score out of 18 shots in the extra session. Pascal Dupuis lost the puck when Marty Turco poked it away on the last chance for Minnesota, which lost its fourth straight game at home.

In regulation, Niklas Hagman scored for Dallas. Mikko Koivu answered in the third for the Wild, who lost top goalie Manny Fernandez in the first period to a mild left knee sprain.

Flames 4, Oilers 0

At Edmonton, Alberta, Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and Calgary defeated Edmonton for its seventh win in nine games.

Dustin Boyd, Alex Tanguay, Matthew Lombardi and Dion Phaneuf scored for Calgary, which snapped Edmonton's two-game winning streak.

Blues 1, Sharks 0

At San Jose, California, Manny Legace stopped 31 shots in his third shutout this season, Bill Guerin scored and St. Louis Blues snapped San Jose's four-game winning streak.

Legace recorded his 16th career shutout and the Blues won their third straight game.

Guerin's winner came with 1:24 left in the second when he wrapped around the goal and flipped the puck past Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Coyotes 3, Kings 2

At Los Angeles, Ladislav Nagy and Travis Roche scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the third period and Josh Gratton scored his first of the season, leading the Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday night and extending the Kings' losing streak to seven games.

Rookie Anze Kopitar had a short-handed goal and Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings. Sean Burke stopped 23 of 24 shots in his Kings debut before getting injured. He departed with 16:40 left in the third period after making a couple of rapid-fire saves on rebound attempts by Phoenix captain Shane Doan while on his knees.