NHL roundup Friday’s games

Devils-Lightning postponed

NEWARK, N.J. — The New Jersey Devils’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning was postponed when a lighting problem on one side of the arena in the second period could not be fixed. The teams waited more than an hour and 40 minutes before the Devils announced the game would be rescheduled. The Lightning led 3-0 with 9:12 left in the period when the lights dimmed in the Devils end and could not be relit. Steve Downie, Brandon Bochenski and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay. The last time an NHL game was postponed was on Nov. 22, 2005, when Detroit’s Jiri Fischer had a seizure on the bench in the first period against Nashville.

Hurricanes 2, Avalanche 1

RALEIGH, N.C. — Ray Whitney scored two goals and Carolina claimed a chippy victory against Colorado. Cam Ward finished with 29 saves and took a bid for his 13th career shutout into the final minute, and Matt Cullen added two assists. The NHL’s worst team has won three of five. Brandon Yip scored with 15.5 seconds left, and Peter Budaj made 18 saves for the Avalanche, who have lost two straight in regulation for the first time since mid-November. The teams combined for 58 penalty minutes, with the violence starting early when Colorado’s Darcy Tucker and Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu traded punches — apparently retaliating for Ruutu’s hit on Tucker in the teams’ last meeting. On Oct. 23, Ruutu sent Tucker into the boards and, eventually, off the ice on a backboard, leaving behind a pool of blood on the ice.

Stars 4, Islanders 3

DALLAS — Brad Richards scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Marty Turco stopped all nine shots he faced in the final period, and the Stars snapped a three-game losing streak. Toby Petersen, Loui Eriksson and Brenden Morrow added goals for the Stars, 9-2-2 in their last 13 at home. The game was tied at 3 when Richards capitalized on the rebound of Eriksson’s shot at 16:47 of the second period. Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro made 24 saves in his first game in more than a year. DiPietro sustained a left knee injury on Jan. 2, 2008.

Sabres 3, Maple Leafs 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rookie defenseman Tyler Myers scored two of Buffalo’s three power-play goals and assisted on the other. Ryan Miller made a career-high 48 saves, and Tim Kennedy also scored in Buffalo’s sixth straight victory and 10th in a row against Toronto. Matt Stajan and John Mitchell scored third-period goals for Toronto, and Vesa Toskala stopped 28 shots. The Maple Leafs have lost four of their last five. The 19-year-old Myers, second among NHL rookies with 26 points, became the first Sabres defenseman with a multigoal game since Jaroslav Spacek scored twice at Philadelphia last Feb. 19. Myers has six goals.

Associated Press