Brodeur and Luongo earn shutouts, Fukufuji pulled from first start

Wednesday, January 17th 2007, 6:26 am

By: News On 6

While Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo earned shutouts, Kings goalie Yutaka Fukufuji had a much tougher time in his first career start against Marian Hossa and the Atlanta Thrashers.

Fukufuji, the first Japanese-born player in the NHL, was pulled less than two minutes into the second period of Los Angeles' 6-2 loss in Atlanta on Tuesday night.

Hossa scored three times for his second hat trick this season and Kari Lehtonen made 28 saves for the Southeast Division-leading Thrashers.

Fukufuji stopped only six of nine shots, sending the Kings to their fifth straight defeat.

``It was pretty bad,'' he said. ``I can play better.''

Brodeur and Luongo were flawless.

Brodeur turned aside 26 shots for his league-leading eighth shutout in New Jersey's 1-0 victory over the visiting New York Rangers. Devils defenseman Brad Lukowich scored a rare goal and New Jersey opened a 10-point lead over the second-place Rangers in the Atlantic Division.

``It's never too early to gain ground on teams,'' Brodeur said after his 88th career shutout. ``The more leeway you have on teams around you, the better it is.''

Luongo also came through with a stellar game _ after spending the previous night in the hospital. Returning to his hometown, he made 30 saves to help the Vancouver Canucks beat the slumping Montreal Canadiens 4-0 for their fifth consecutive road win.

Luongo spent Monday night in the intensive care unit of a Montreal hospital as a precaution after taking Daniel Sedin's soft wrist shot in the throat during practice. He got practically no sleep because he had to sit up all night, and barely ate anything for 24 hours.

``I felt a little nauseous in the first period, but I kind of settled in afterward,'' said Luongo, who never stayed overnight in a hospital before. ``If I feel that I can play and contribute to the team, I want to be in there.''

In other NHL games, it was: Pittsburgh 5, the New York Islanders 2; Columbus 5, Chicago 4 in overtime; Ottawa 5, Washington 2; Carolina 3, Florida 2 in overtime; Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 2; Edmonton 2, Minnesota 1; and St. Louis 6, Anaheim 2.

Josh Green, Lukas Krajicek, Ryan Kesler and Jan Bulis scored for the surging Canucks, who have won nine of 10 to move past Calgary into first place in the Northwest Division.

The Canadiens have lost nine of 13 and haven't scored a goal in two straight. The lack of offense drew a chorus of boos from the sellout crowd throughout the third period.

Luongo had a lot to do with that. He made quick work of Montreal in his 30th career shutout and third this season.

The victory made it a triumphant return to the Bell Centre for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, who coached the Canadiens from the start of the 1997 season until November 2000. He faced his former team for the first time.

``I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the win,'' Vigneault said. ``Not only was this a big two points for our team, but also for me to come back here and for us to win it in the fashion that we did.''

At East Rutherford, N.J., Brodeur wasn't tested much but he came up big when it counted, stopping Martin Straka in front on a backhander with 3:44 remaining to preserve New Jersey's ninth win in 11 games (9-1-1).

The shutout was Brodeur's fourth in 11 games and it moved him just six behind George Hainesworth for second overall in NHL history. Terry Sawchuk's 103 is the record.

``I would like to play these guys every second game so we could identify with excellence,'' Rangers coach Tom Renney said.

At Atlanta, the Kings closed to 3-2 when Tom Kostopoulos scored early in the third period. But Hossa, who will represent the Thrashers at the All-Star game next week, found the net two more times to turn it into a runaway. He has 29 goals this season.

``This feels good,'' Hossa said. ``We finally made it easy on ourselves.''

Jim Slater, Shane Hnidy and Glen Metropolit also scored for Atlanta. The Kings have allowed an NHL-worst 176 goals.

Fukufuji, recalled from the minors after Los Angeles' top two goalies went down with injuries, played the third period of a 6-5 loss to St. Louis on Saturday night. Despite his rough outing, he said he hopes to be an inspiration to other Japanese players.

``It's my dream,'' Fukufuji said. ``I've watched on TV since I was 9 or 10 years old. I'm here now.''

Penguins 5, Islanders 2

At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby and Erik Christensen each scored twice for the Penguins, who passed the Islanders for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Blues 6, Ducks 2

At Anaheim, Calif., Eric Brewer had a goal and two assists, and Radek Dvorak added three assists for steadily improving St. Louis. Jamal Mayers' short-handed goal was the first given up by the Ducks, the only team that hadn't allowed one.

Curtis Sanford finished with 30 saves after getting staked to a 5-0 lead, ending Anaheim's five-game winning streak against the Blues. Manny Legace got the night off after starting 15 consecutive games.

Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk also scored for St. Louis.

Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry scored for the injury-plagued Ducks, who are 5-7-2 in their last 14 games after winning 10 of 11. Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer was on the ice for all of St. Louis' goals _ including Dallas Drake's short-handed empty-netter with 3:38 to play.

Blue Jackets 5, Blackhawks 4, OT

At Chicago, Jason Chimera scored at 2:31 of overtime to snap Columbus' four-game skid. The Blackhawks lost their seventh straight (0-6-1).

Maple Leafs 4, Lightning 2

At Tampa, Fla., Alex Steen snapped a third-period tie with a power-play goal and Andrew Raycroft made 21 saves for Toronto, which ended the Lightning's season-high five-game winning streak.

Senators 5, Capitals 2

At Ottawa, Mike Comrie scored twice and Daniel Alfredsson had a short-handed goal and an assist as the Senators extended their winning streak to a season-best five. Ray Emery made 28 saves.

Oilers 2, Wild 1

At St. Paul, Minn., Joffrey Lupul and Marc-Andre Bergeron each scored a power-play goal, and Edmonton snapped a seven-game skid against Northwest Division opponents.

Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2, OT

At Sunrise, Fla., Justin Williams scored a power-play goal at 1:47 of overtime with Mike Van Ryn off for holding. Scott Walker and Erik Cole also scored for Carolina, which improved to 17-0 when leading after two periods.