NHL

New players help Flyers beat Devils, tie them for first

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- All the changes the Flyers made over the past six weeks have made them better, a fact they finally impressed on the Devils.

Sami Kapanen had a goal and two assists Monday to help Philadelphia beat New Jersey 4-2. The teams are tied for first in the Atlantic Division at 91 points with 11 games left.

"I think both teams knew what was at stake," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said. "This was probably more important for us. We haven't played well in (Continental Airlines Arena)."

The win was the Flyers' third in a row and first in five games (1-3-1) against the Devils this season. It was the first time Philadelphia faced New Jersey with Kapanen, Tony Amonte, Claude Lapointe and Dmitry Yushkevich, all acquired near the trade deadline.

"The boys said on the bus ride up that they hadn't played well against these guys, that they haven't played well in this building," said Amonte, who scored along with Eric Desjardins and Eric Weinrich. "We wanted to go out and prove to ourselves and the Devils that we've got a good squad."

Roman Cechmanek made 27 saves for the Flyers.

Jim McKenzie and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who have lost five of their past seven.

"That's probably the most disappointing loss, for me, of the season," said coach Pat Burns, whose team led the Flyers by eight points 15 games ago.

The Flyers played one of their best periods of the season in taking a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Kapanen and Desjardins.

The Devils got back in the game at 2:49 of the second when a shot by Scott Stevens appeared to deflect off Flyers defenseman Chris Therien and past Cechmanek. McKenzie got credit for the goal, but he said he never touched it.

Amonte scored less than two minutes later.

RANGERS 1, ISLANDERS 0: Brian Leetch scored a power-play goal with 8:17 left and Mike Dunham made 17 saves to lift the host Rangers.

Garth Snow made 38 saves but couldn't stop Leetch's backhanded shot after the Rangers pressured. The Islanders failed to clear the puck three times.

"They threw everything they had at us," Islanders captain Michael Peca said. "Garth Snow was the only one who matched the desperation of the New York Rangers."

The Rangers tied Montreal for ninth in the East, five points behind the Islanders for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Rangers, who snapped an 0-2-0-1 skid, have only eight games left.

Rangers forward Pavel Bure sat out with recurring problems in his oft-injured knees.

CANUCKS 4, STARS 2: Todd Bertuzzi scored two of his three goals on the power play and Pat Kavanagh got his first NHL goal for visiting Vancouver.

Rookie goalie Alexander Auld stopped 26 shots to give the Canucks 95 points, tying them with the Stars for second in the West, one behind Detroit. Dallas and Vancouver were 1-2 for months until Detroit passed both by winning 15 of 17.

Also, Canucks forward Brad May will miss at least a week with a concussion he received on a hit by Toronto's Mats Sundin.

OILERS 5, PREDATORS 3: Ales Hemsky had a goal and an assist and Ryan Smyth had three assists for visiting Edmonton, which opened its lead over Nashville for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West to 10 points. Nashville's Denis Arkhipov scored to tie the score at 3 in the third. Jason Chimera scored the decisive goal with 4:53 left and Marty Reasoner added an empty-netter.

THRASHERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: Dany Heatley stormed from the penalty box and scored the winner on a breakaway with 13 seconds left for Atlanta, which handed Columbus its seventh consecutive road loss. Ilya Kovalchuk and Mark Hartigan also scored for Atlanta, which has won consecutive games after ending a three-game home losing streak. Also, Columbus recalled left wing Andrej Nedorost from Syracuse of the AHL.

BLACKHAWKS 3, SHARKS 2 (OT): Theo Fleury, who stayed with the Blackhawks after the team put him on waivers, scored 3:34 into overtime. Jocelyn Thibault stopped 35 of 37 shots for visiting Chicago. Wayne Primeau scored with 6:16 left in regulation to tie it at 2.

PANTHERS: Right wing Juraj Kolnik was recalled from AHL San Antonio.

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