Kessel Plays 1st NHL Game Since Dianosis

Phil Kessel was happy to be back on the ice. <br/><br/>After what he's been through, it's easy to understand why the Boston rookie was laughing after absorbing open-ice hits Tuesday night, when

Wednesday, January 10th 2007, 6:31 am

By: News On 6

Phil Kessel was happy to be back on the ice.

After what he's been through, it's easy to understand why the Boston rookie was laughing after absorbing open-ice hits Tuesday night, when the Ottawa Senators spoiled Kessel's return to the Bruins' lineup with five third-period goals for a 5-2 comeback victory.

It was a disappointing loss, but getting back on the ice a month after being diagnosed with testicular cancer was reward enough for Kessel.

After getting a warm reception from the crowd of 18,292 during a stoppage in play 9:49 into the game _ ``Welcome Back, Phil Kessel'' was displayed over his image on Scotiabank Place's video scoreboard _ the 19-year-old center received another ``welcome back'' moments later courtesy of an open-ice check by Joe Corvo. Mike Comrie added his greetings late in the second.

``I told him, 'I just tried to finish my check,' and he actually chuckled about it,'' Comrie said. ``He's a hardworking kid and it's nice to see him on the ice.''

In other NHL games Tuesday, it was: St. Louis 4, Columbus 3 in a shootout; Washington 6, Philadelphia 2; N.Y. Islanders 5, N.Y. Rangers 3; Montreal 4, Atlanta 2; Carolina 4, Toronto 1; Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 2; Nashville 5, Anaheim 4 in overtime; Phoenix 5, Dallas 2; Calgary 3, Minnesota 0; and Detroit 4, Colorado 3 in a shootout.

Kessel was diagnosed with testicular cancer a month ago and played his first NHL game since having surgery Dec. 11 to remove one of his testicles.

``It felt good to play,'' Kessel said. ``I was just excited to play tonight.''

Comrie ruined Boston goalie Tim Thomas' shutout bid with the first Ottawa goal 2:22 into the final period. Senators scoring leader Dany Heatley tied it 2-2 with his 26th goal 5:43 in, and Daniel Alfredsson and Patrick Eaves gave Ottawa a 4-2 lead. Chris Neil finished off the barrage, scoring into an empty net with just over a minute left.

``There was a sense of confidence in the dressing room, even though we were down two goals after the first period,'' said Comrie, who was acquired from Phoenix in a trade Wednesday.

Marco Sturm and Paul Mara scored Boston's goals in the first period.

While Kessel said he didn't notice the crowd's response, the checks caught his attention.

``I felt those, but that's hockey,'' said Kessel, who shrugged off both hits. ``It's no big deal. You just get back up and go play.''

Boston coach Dave Lewis liked what he saw from Kessel.

``He never said anything, and he finished the game,'' said Lewis, who also noted that Kessel's quick return following surgery ``says a lot about him.''

Boston, which played without injured captain Zdeno Chara, lost for the first time in four meetings with the Senators this season.

Islanders 5, Rangers 3

At New York, Mike Sillinger scored his second goal of the game 27 seconds after Viktor Kozlov snapped a third-period tie, and the Islanders broke a six-game losing streak.

Sillinger gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead in the second period after the teams split four goals in the first.

Miroslav Satan and defenseman Brendan Witt also scored for the Islanders, and Martin Straka, Jaromir Jagr, andBrendan Shanahan had goals for the Rangers, who rallied from 1-0 and 3-2 deficits to tie.

Capitals 6, Flyers 2

At Washington, Alex Ovechkin scored his 27th and 28th goals, and the Capitals won their third straight for the franchise's first season sweep of slumping Philadelphia.

Ben Clymer scored on the game's first shift, former Philadelphia enforcer Donald Brashear got his first goal of the season, Alexander Semin added his 22nd goal and Brian Sutherby also netted for the Capitals. Olie Kolzig made 31 saves.

Ovechkin also assisted on Semin's goal and has 12 goals and 32 points in his last 18 games.

Kyle Calder scored both Flyers' goals in the third period.

Hurricanes 4, Maple Leafs 1

At Toronto, Eric Staal, Scott Walker, Eric Belanger and Justin Williams scored to lead Carolina past Toronto.

Bryan McCabe scored for the Maple Leafs, who are missing four regular players because of injuries. Their injury woes got worse when defenseman Ian White didn't return after hurting his shoulder in the second period.

Blues 4, Blue Jackets 3, SO

At Columbus, Ohio _ Lee Stempniak scored the winner in the shootout and added two assists to rally St. Louis past Columbus.

Manny Legace finished with 19 saves for the Blues, and Martin Rucinsky, Bill Guerin and Keith Tkachuk had goals.

Dan Fritsche, Aaron Johnson and Manny Malhotra scored for Columbus.

Lightning 3, Penguins 2

At Tampa, Fla., Martin St. Louis had a goal and two assists to lead Tampa Bay to its 11th straight victory over Pittsburgh.

Vincent Lecavalier and Andreas Karlsson also scored for the Lightning.

Sidney Crosby and Colby Armstrong had goals for the Penguins.

Canadiens 4, Thrashers 2

At Montreal, Michael Ryder had two goals and an assist and the Canadiens ended a three-game losing streak.

Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse also scored for Montreal, and Saku Koivu had an assist for his 500th career point.

Greg de Vries and Brad Larsen had goals for Atlanta, which is 1-3-2 in its last six.

Coyotes 5, Stars 2

At Dallas, Ed Jovanovski and Shane Doan scored power-play goals during a span of 2:21 in the second period to help Phoenix extend its season-best winning streak to seven games.

Travis Roche and Owen Nolan had goals, and Doan added an empty-netter for the Coyotes.

Niklas Hagman and Jere Lehtinen scored for the Stars.

Predators 5, Ducks 4, OT

At Nashville, Tenn., Steve Sullivan scored with 1:48 left in overtime, and Nashville beat Anaheim for its third straight victory and 11th in 14 games.

Kimmo Timonen, Paul Kariya, David Legwand and Jean-Pierre Dumont also scored in Nashville's first win against Anaheim since Oct. 8, 2005.

Chris Kunitz, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner had goals for the Ducks

Red Wings 4, Avalanche 3, SO

At Denver, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk scored in the shootout and had a goal each in regulation, and Detroit ended a three-game skid.

Robert Lang tied it for Detroit, which defeated Colorado for the seventh consecutive time, and Chris Chelios played for the first time since two employees were murdered at his restaurant.

Ben Guite had his first career goal, and Wojtek Wolski and Milan Hejduk added scores for Colorado.

Flames 3, Wild 0

At Calgary, Alberta, Miikka Kiprusoff made 26 saves for his 100th career win and Calgary handed Minnesota its 11th straight road loss.

Byron Ritchie scored for the third straight game for the Flames.

Daymond Langkow and Mark Giordano also scored for Calgary.