NHL Roundup | Tavares scores as Isles post first regulation win

B5

The Associated Press

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Islanders captain Doug Weight, in his first game back following a bout with swine flu, earned an assist on Kyle Okposo's tiebreaking, power-play goal in the second period that lifted New York to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Weight, sidelined three games by the illness, sent a cross-ice pass to Jack Hillen in the Rangers' zone. The defenceman fired a drive that bounced off goalie Henrik Lundqvist and past Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi onto the stick of Okposo, who slammed the puck into the open right side with 1:46 left.

Islanders rookie John Tavares, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, snapped a four-game scoreless streak with 5:06 left by netting his fourth goal in New York's first regulation win.

P.A. Parenteau, in the Rangers' lineup only because top scorer Marian Gaborik sat out because of an undisclosed injury sustained two nights earlier, scored his first NHL goal. Henrik Lundqvist looked sharp in making 29 saves, but took the loss one day after he was in a minor car accident on his way to practice.

The Rangers (8-4-1) are 1-3-1 following a seven-game winning streak.

It is unclear how long Gaborik will be out but the forward, who has 10 goals, will surely want to play Friday at Minnesota when New York takes on his former team. Gaborik spent his first eight NHL seasons with the Wild.

Hillen tied career highs with two assists and two points. He received the lone assist on Matt Moulson's team-leading sixth of the season - scored on a breakaway 55 seconds into the game.

Dwayne Roloson stopped 34 shots for the Islanders, who earned their second win of the season (2-4-5) - both at home. The Islanders managed to hang on and avoid a repeat of recent third-period collapses.

The 38-year-old Weight kept his shifts short in his return to the ice for the first time since being diagnosed with the H1N1 flu strain eight days earlier. Weight is the fourth NHL player known to have contracted swine flu.

Washington forward Quintin Laing, Edmonton defenceman Ladislav Smid, and Colorado goalie Peter Budaj also have the illness, their teams said this week. Weight, who missed two earlier games this season because of a groin injury, earned his third assist in six games.

Moulson started the scoring when he got free of defenceman Matt Gilroy and forward Chris Drury and raced in alone. He snapped a quick shot that beat Lundqvist's blocker for his fifth goal in eight games.

Parenteau tied it at 8:30 when he got to a loose puck in the slot and sent a backhander through traffic and past Roloson.

The Rangers didn't register many prime scoring chances, and were twice denied by shots that rang off posts. Marc Staal struck iron with 4.5 seconds left in the first period, and Enver Lisin nailed the crossbar in the second.

Sabres 4 Devils 1

Clarke MacArthur and rookie Tim Kennedy scored early in the first period and the Buffalo Sabres remained unbeaten on the road with a victory over the Devils.

Ryan Miller made 31 saves, and Paul Gaustad and Jason Pominville iced the game with third-period goals as the Sabres won all three games on their trip. They are 4-0 on the road, joining Pittsburgh and New Jersey as the only NHL teams without a road loss.

Defenceman Andy Greene scored on a power play for New Jersey, which had a three-game winning streak snapped in losing for the fourth time in five home games. The Sabres played an outstanding first period in taking a 2-0 lead and then did little until Gaustad took a no-look pass from the left corner by Matt Ellis to finish off New Jersey.

Miller, who is 7-0-1, had to face four late power plays by New Jersey, but the Devils didn't generate much offence.

Coyotes 4 Jackets 1

Martin Hanzal, Zbynek Michalek and Robert Lang scored power-play goals and Jason LaBarbera stopped 31 shots in the Phoenix Coyotes' victory over the Blue Jackets.

James Vandermeer had what ended up being the winner when his even-strength shot from just inside the blue line ricocheted off a Columbus defender and into the net late in the second period.

The Coyotes, the stingiest team in the Western Conference, have given up just 23 goals in their first 11 games.

Keith Yandle had three assists for the Coyotes, whose sale this week to the NHL was finalized

Derick Brassard had the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who played seven of the first 10 on the road.

Blues 5 Hurricanes 2

David Perron had two goals, Yan Stastny and Jay McClement scored 16 seconds apart, and Chris Mason made 34 saves to help the Blues beat the Hurricanes.

Stastny and McClement gave St. Louis - 3-1-1 on the road - a 3-0 lead before Joe Corvo scored for Carolina on a first-period slap shot.

Perron, who sealed the win with an empty-netter, opened the scoring at 7:32 of the first. He followed Patrik Berglund's shot and managed to put the puck past Cam Ward.

Stastny and McClement followed with goals later in the first, marking the fifth time this season the Hurricanes allowed two goals in a less than a minute.

Andy McDonald made it 4-1 with his fourth goal of the season, taking a feed from Keith Tkachuk and beating Ward.

Carolina's Scott Walker batted in his own rebound midway through the third, cutting the lead to 4-2. The Hurricanes had other chances to score, getting two power plays in each period, but Mason was solid in goal. He stopped Rod Brind'Amour in front of the net in the second period, and got help in the third when Joni Pitkanen hit the post.

Carolina, winless since Oct. 9, is 0-4-3 in its last seven games.

Senators 4 Panthers 3

Nick Foligno and Jarkko Ruutu scored second-period goals to help the Senators beat the Panthers.

Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson also scored, and denfenceman Filip Kuba added two assists after missing the previous eight games because of a lower-body injury.

Steve Reinprecht, Stephen Weiss and Bryan McCabe scored for Florida, which has lost four straight to drop to 2-7-1. Jordan Leopold and Nathan Horton each had two assists.

Pascal Leclaire stopped nine shots for the Senators (6-2-2), but left after the first period.

Brian Elliott finished the game, making 26 saves. According to the team's official Twitter page, Leclaire left because he felt ill.

Pens 6 Habs 1

Sidney Crosby had his third career hat trick and the Pittsburgh Penguins became the first NHL team to reach 10 victories this season, snapping the Montreal Canadiens' four-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory Wednesday night.

Crosby, tied for fourth in the NHL with nine goals, had his third multiple-goal game in 12 starts this season for Pittsburgh (10-2-0).

Chris Kunitz also scored and assisted on all three of Crosby's goals. Mike Rupp and Alex Goligoski added goals. Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens.