NHL ROUNDUP

NHL ROUNDUP

Thursday’s games

Rangers 4, Islanders 2

NEW YORK — Chris Drury had a goal and assist during two power plays in the second period, and the New York Rangers finally solved Rick DiPietro and the New York Islanders. The Rangers had dropped all three previous meetings with their biggest rival this season, scoring only four goals in the process, and were 3-8-1 in the past 12 matchups dating to April 11, 2006. DiPietro played in all but one of those games and allowed two goals or fewer eight times. He finished with 27 saves while playing his 18th straight game. DiPietro has missed only one of New York’s 23 contests. The Islanders, who beat Ottawa 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday night, fell to 11-2 this season against Eastern Conference playoff teams from last season. The only such club they have yet to beat is the Atlanta Thrashers, who New York will play Saturday for the first time. Jaromir Jagr and Brandon Dubinsky added goals, and Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves for the Rangers, who won for the second time in five games (2-2-1). The Islanders’ Miroslav Satan got credit for a goal in the second period, during a wild scramble in front following a funny carom off the boards, and Mike Comrie cut the Islanders’ deficit to one late in the frame.

Predators 6, Senators 5

OTTAWA — Martin Erat scored with 22.2 seconds left to lift Nashville. J.P. Dumont got his fourth point of the game on the play as he stripped the puck from Ottawa’s Dean McAmmond and fed it to Erat, who beat Martin Gerber from the slot for his third point of the game. Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson had drawn Ottawa even for the fourth time in the game just 23 seconds earlier with his 17th goal. Ottawa has lost five straight games. After racing to a 15-2 mark, the Senators are 1-4-2 in their last seven games. Dumont, Dan Hamhuis, Greg de Vries, Ryan Suter, Martin Gelinas also scored for Nashville. Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, Joe Corvo and Antoine Vermette added goals for Ottawa.

Maple Leafs 4, Thrashers 2

ATLANTA — Mats Sundin scored his 13th goal, and Nik Antropov had two assists to help Toronto end a four-game losing streak. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 20th goal 16:20 into the second, breaking an offensive drought for Atlanta that lasted seven-plus periods and covered 166 minutes. In losing their third straight, the Thrashers never really threatened Toronto, which scored four goals for the first time in 14 games. Andy Wozniewski, Matt Stajan and Alex Steen also scored for Toronto. Tobias Enstrom added a goal for Atlanta.

Bruins 4, Panthers 3

SUNRISE, Fla. — Defenseman Zdeno Chara scored two goals to lead Boston.

Boston won for the sixth time in eight game, and also broke a six-game losing streak to the Panthers dating to Nov. 3, 2005. Glen Metropolit and Phil Kessel also scored for Boston. Steve Montador, David Booth and Olli Jokinen scored for Florida. The loss snapped Florida’s winning streak at a season-best four games.

Red Wings 4, Lightning 2

DETROIT — Jiri Hudler had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Kopecky and Dan Cleary also scored for NHL-leading Detroit. Chris Osgood made 21 saves for the Red Wings. Brad Richards and Mathieu Darche scored for Tampa Bay, which lost its sixth straight. Marc Denis stopped 35 shots. Hudler opened the scoring 3:24 into the game with his sixth goal, tipping in a pass from Chris Chelios. The Red Wings outshot the Lightning 17-1 in the first period. That’s the fewest shots Tampa Bay has had in a period this season. Datsyuk’s power-play goal 4:04 into the second period made it 2-0. He put a rebound into an open net for his eighth goal of the season and fourth in three games.

Associated Press