NHL

Khabibulin bombed by Ducks

By wire services
Published October 6, 2005

CHICAGO - Anaheim got power-play goals from Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer - their big free-agent acquisitions - and Jeffrey Lupul added two more to lift the Mighty Ducks to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

Two of Anaheim's goals were short-handed: one by Lupul, and another by Rob Niedermayer, Scott's younger brother.

Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin - the highest profile goalie on last summer's free agent market after helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup - allowed all five goals on 24 shots.

Anaheim got 36 saves from Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

SENATORS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2: Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in the final six minutes of regulation and once during the first shootout in league history as visiting Ottawa rallied to beat Toronto.

CANADIENS 2, BRUINS 1: Michael Ryder backhanded in the rebound of Alexei Kovalev's shot on the power play with 11.1 seconds remaining to lift visiting Montreal past Boston.

Tom Fitzgerald was called for hooking with 26 seconds to play to set up the power play for the Canadiens.

Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston, which outshot the Canadiens 30-21 but failed to score on seven power-play opportunities, including four in the third period.

RANGERS 5, FLYERS 3: Jaromir Jagr scored a pair of power-play goals in the third period for visiting New York.

Jason Strudwick, Jamie Lundmark and Marcel Hossa also scored for the Rangers, who overcame a two-goal deficit with four straight goals.

Peter Forsberg had two assists in his first game with Philadelphia after leaving Colorado, where he helped lead the Avalanche to two Stanley Cup championships.

PANTHERS 2, THRASHERS 0: Roberto Luongo made 34 saves for his 24th career shutout, and Nathan Horton and Lucas Krajicek scored in the third period as host Florida blanked Atlanta.

Luongo, who had seven shutouts and a league-record 2,303 saves during the league's pre-lockout season of 2003-04, made 10 stops during a 5-minute shorthanded stretch of the third period, holding up a 1-0 lead.

SABRES 6, ISLANDERS 4: Daniel Briere scored two goals and set up another as host Buffalo won its opener.

Maxim Afinogenov scored twice, J.P. Dumont had a goal and an assist and Brian Campbell added a goal in a game the Sabres never trailed.

RED WINGS 5, BLUES 1: Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist in the first seven minutes for host Detroit.

The game turned into a rout in the second period when Detroit scored three goals while St. Louis took just three shots, none of which got past Manny Legace, who needed to make a mere 13 saves.

Patrick Lalime allowed four goals on 24 shots before the Blues replaced him with Reinhard Divis midway through the second period.

PREDATORS 3, SHARKS 2: Scott Hartnell broke a tie with 4:13 left, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 22 shots for host Nashville.

Paul Kariya scored his first goal in a Predators uniform, and Scott Walker also scored for Nashville.

WILD 6, FLAMES 3: Marc Chouinard scored three goals and Todd White added a goal and two assists for host Minnesota.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard had three assists, and Brent Burns and Kyle Wanvig each contributed a power-play goal as the Wild pounced on Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.

DEVILS 5, PENGUINS 1: Zach Parise, New Jersey's first-round draft pick in 2003, scored a power-play goal and assisted on one of Brian Gionta's two goals in outplaying Pittsburgh rookie sensation Sidney Crosby.

Sergei Brylin also scored twice for New Jersey. Crosby, 18, had one assist.

STARS 5, KINGS 4: Philippe Boucher capped host Dallas' comeback from an early four-goal deficit with a shot that went in off a Los Angeles defenseman with 4:46 left.

MAPLE LEAFS: Mats Sundin was struck in the face by a puck in the first period of Toronto's game against Ottawa, forcing the team captain to leave for the dressing room. He did not return.

WILD: Goalie Manny Fernandez missed Minnesota's season opener because of muscle spasms in his neck and upper back area.

[Last modified October 6, 2005, 01:15:08]