NHL Roundup: Tuesday’s other games

Flyers 3, Thrashers 2

PHILADELPHIA — Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Vaclav Prospal scored goals and the Flyers kept their hold on the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Antero Niittymaki allowed a goal 58 seconds into the game, but was near flawless in helping the Flyers to their 10th straight series win against the Thrashers. The Flyers haven’t lost to Atlanta since November 2005 and Niittymaki improved to 9-0 against the Thrashers. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 50th goal of the season for the Thrashers in the final minute. Kovalchuk just missed tying the game in the final seconds on a shot from point-blank range, but Niittymaki made the save. Kovalchuk dropped to his knees in disbelief and the Flyers mobbed each other in celebration. The slumping Flyers desperately needed this win to stay in the playoff chase with only eight games left in the season. They took a season-high 47 shots. They had lost four straight, including a 7-1 defeat at Pittsburgh on Sunday, that caused general manager Paul Holmgren to blast their effort and team chairman Ed Snider expressed concern over their collapse. Flyers coach John Stevens even ordered the equipment manager to change all the player’s stalls in the locker room of their practice facility to shake everything up. For one game at least, the criticisms must have inspired the Flyers. They got off to yet another slow start, though, when Chris Thorburn slid the puck past for Niittymaki for an easy goal and a 1-0 lead. One of the knocks Holmgren leveled against Stevens was the Flyers sometimes are not prepared at the start of games and this was the latest example.

Blues 4, Canadiens 3, SO

MONTREAL — Brad Boyes scored his 38th goal in the game and was the only player to score in the shootout and the St. Louis Blues ended a 10-game road losing streak. Manny Legace stopped Saku Koivu, Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev in the shootout as St. Louis got its first road win in more than a month. Boyes, who scored his team-high 38th goal in the second period, put a backhand past Jaroslav Halak on St. Louis’ second attempt. Keith Tkachuk scored on a two-man advantage in the first period for St. Louis, which got its first win seven games into a season-high nine-game road trip (1-5-1). Andy McDonald also scored for the Blues, who had gone 0-7-3 on the road since a 4-1 win in Colorado on Feb. 14 to match the longest road losing streak in franchise history.

Maple Leafs 3, Islanders 1

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Pavel Kubina’s third-period power-play goal helped the Toronto Maple Leafs keep alive their hopes for a playoff spot. Kubina’s screened slap shot from the right point got through cleanly and beat Islanders goalie Wade Dubielewicz for the Maple Leafs’ third win in their past four games. Kyle Wellwood tied the game earlier in the period, and Vesa Toskala got the win by stopping 27 shots. With a chance to clinch the game, Darcy Tucker’s goal was disallowed with 4:04 left as linemate and former Islander Jason Blake was called for goaltender interference. Alexei Ponikarovsky clinched the game with an empty-netter with 27.7 seconds left.

Associated Press