Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Flyers 2, Rangers 1
PHILADELPHIA -- Sami Kapanen scored the tie-breaking goal in his first game with Philadelphia.
Kapanen, acquired Friday in a deal with Carolina, has just seven goals this season after registering 27 last season. He took a pass from Mark Recchi, did a curl in which he moved the puck from backhand to forehand, and put a shot in behind Dan Blackburn 4:44 into the third period.
It was the Flyers' second power-play goal of the game, tying the high this season for the anemic unit. Marcus Ragnarsson scored with the man advantage to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead in the second.
Radek Dvorak scored for the Rangers, who fell to 0-2-1-1 under coach-general manager Glen Sather. New York is winless in seven games (0-5-1-1).
Eric Lindros was again kept off the scoresheet in Philadelphia. In four road games since the Flyers traded him to the Rangers, Lindros has just one goal. He was booed each time he touched the puck, and more so when he ran over goalie Roman Cechmanek in the first period.
Dvorak tied it at 1 just 2:47 after the Rangers fell behind. Rico Fata's shot from the slot was kicked out, but Dvorak got the puck just in front of the goal line and shot it past Cechmanek at 15:27 of the second. Dvorak has only five goals this season and had gone 15 games without one.
The Flyers entered tied for the second-worst home power play in the NHL, but they took advantage of their first chance. Just nine seconds into a power play that was only scheduled to last 25 seconds, Ragnarsson came out of the penalty box to score his second this season and first in 26 games.
Philadelphia went 2-for-5 on the power play and has clicked only 15 times in 113 home chances. The Flyers have only 29 power-play goals this season and are converting just 13 percent of their opportunities.
Keith Primeau won a faceoff back to Kim Johnsson at the blue line. Johnsson, the only remaining player acquired by Philadelphia for Lindros, moved the puck to Ragnarsson. His rising drive beat Blackburn, who appeared to be screened by teammate Darius Kasparaitis.
Johnsson was acquired with Jan Hlavac, traded away last season, and Pavel Brendl, dealt by Philadelphia to Carolina on Friday for Kapanen.
Since allowing three goals in 11 shots against New Jersey on Jan. 30, Cechmanek has saved 97 of 101 shots as the Flyers are 2-0-1 following the All-Star game. Philadelphia has not scored more than two goals in seven straight games, dating to Jan. 21.
Blackburn started consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 6-8. The 19-year-old backup made 18 straight starts between Mike Richter's season-ending injury and Mike Dunham's arrival from Nashville.
It was just the fifth appearance since Dec. 14 for Blackburn, who faced 19 shots -- a season-low for Philadelphia and the fewest allowed by New York.
Avalanche 5, Red Wings 3
DENVER -- Milan Hejduk had three goals and Radim Vrbata scored the game-winner with 7:08 remaining as Colorado extended its unbeaten string to eight games.
Colorado is 6-0-2 the past eight games, its longest streak since going 10 games without a defeat late in 2001. The Avalanche haven't lost since a 4-2 setback to Detroit on Jan. 16.
Vrbata scored the game-winner after a wraparound shot by Steven Reinprecht bounced off his skate.
The teams kept playing after Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph appeared to stop the shot just before it crossed the goal line, but officials awarded the goal to Vrbata 21 seconds later after watching a replay.
Hejduk added an empty-net goal, his 28th of the season, with 55 seconds left. It was his first career hat trick.
Brett Hull's bid to become the sixth player to reach 700 goals has stalled during a seven-game drought, his longest of the season. He had three good chances in the first period, but Patrick Roy turned him away each time. Tomas Holmstrom scored two goals for Detroit, which hasn't won in six games (0-4-2-0).
Detroit led 3-2 when Brendan Shanahan scored 15 seconds into the second period, but Adam Foote tied it 8:05 into the third with a hard slapshot through traffic from just inside the blue line.
Roy allowed three goals for the first time in seven games, but made three saves on successive shots on a two-on-one shortly after Foote's goal, including one from his stomach.
Hejduk opened the scoring 7:31 into the game, beating Curtis Joseph with a wrist shot after a no-look drop pass from Peter Forsberg.
Holmstrom tied it on a power play with 9:38 remaining in the first, flipping a shot past Roy's stick after Luc Robitaille squeezed a pass between two defenders along the right boards.
Holmstrom beat Roy again 58 seconds later, punching in a rebound from a tough angle for his 13th of the season.
Joseph made a series of spectacular saves during a power play late in the period, but Hejduk slipped a shot over his left shoulder on a two-man advantage to make it 2-all with 5:03 remaining.
-- Associated Press