Sports

NHL

Sweet revenge for ex-Cap Bondra

Associated Press
Published October 8, 2005

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WASHINGTON - Peter Bondra made a successful return to Washington, scoring the opening goal and adding two assists to send the Atlanta Thrashers on their way to a 7-3 victory Friday night over the Capitals.

Atlanta, shut out in a season-opening loss to Florida, scored its first four goals on power plays. Marc Savard had a goal and his 200th career assist, Marian Hossa had a goal and two assists, and Bobby Holik, Jaroslav Modry, Eric Boulton and Vyacheslav Kozlov also scored.

Bondra, Modry and Boulton were signed as free agents this offseason, while Hossa came over from Ottawa in the Dany Heatley trade.

Mathieu Biron, Brian Willsie and Andrew Cassels scored for Washington, which was outshot 39-22. Jeff Halpern had his fourth assist of the season, and 2004 No. 1 overall draft pick Alexander Ovechkin recorded his first assist after scoring twice in his NHL debut Wednesday.

BLACKHAWKS 6, SHARKS 3: Rookie Pavel Vorobiev had two goals and an assist, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 21 saves for his first win with host Chicago.

Jim Vandermeer, Tuomo Ruutu, Tyler Arnason and Jassen Cullimore also scored and defenseman Brent Seabrook had four assists as the Blackhawks clicked for three power-play goals - including two 5-on-3 conversions - in seven chances.

Seabrook tied the team records for assists and points in a game by a rookie. Vorobiev entered having scored only one goal in 19 previous NHL games.

Khabibulin, who backstopped Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup title in 2004, signed a four-year, $27 million deal with Chicago in August.

FLYERS 5, DEVILS 2: Jon Sim had the go-ahead goal and Simon Gagne scored twice, leading host Philadelphia past New Jersey.

Michal Handzus and Turner Stevenson also had goals for the Flyers, who scored five straight after the Devils took a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers and Devils last met in the first round of the 2003-04 playoffs. Philadelphia eliminated its longtime nemesis in five games and went all the way to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to Tampa Bay.

HURRICANES 3, PENGUINS 2: Cam Ward stuffed Sidney Crosby in the shootout to complete a stellar outing in his first NHL start, and Cory Stillman's goal in the tiebreaker was enough to lift host Carolina past Pittsburgh.

With the Hurricanes ahead in the shootout after Stillman, who played with the Lightning in 2003-04, scored in the first round, Crosby was Pittsburgh's last chance. The 18-year-old phenom skated in and shot low, but Ward was up to the task even after Mario Lemieux and Ziggy Palffy failed to beat him in the first two rounds.

FLAMES 3, BLUE JACKETS 1: Jarome Iginla set up Daymond Langkow's go-ahead goal early in the third period for visiting Calgary.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 19 shots, and the goal Columbus scored wasn't his fault.

Columbus tied it at 1 27 seconds into the third period when Trevor Letowski was credited with the goal after Calgary's Jordan Leopold accidentally kicked the puck into his own net past a surprised Kiprusoff. Leopold slammed his stick to the ice in disgust.

SABRES 4, BRUINS 1: Ryan Miller made 35 saves to help lift host Buffalo over Boston.

J.P. Dumont, Mike Grier, Ales Kotalik and Maxim Afinogenov scored for Sabres.

Glen Murray scored Boston's lone goal in the third period to break up Miller's shutout bid.

Rangers collecting siblings

Fedor Fedorov, the younger sibling of Anaheim forward Sergei Fedorov and a sixth-round draft pick of the Lightning in 1999, was sent from Vancouver to the New York Rangers for forward Jozef Balej and a fifth-round pick in next year's draft. Fedorov, who never signed with Tampa Bay, was assigned to Hartford of the AHL.

Last Friday, the Rangers acquired Marcel Hossa from the Montreal Canadiens for forward Garth Murray. Hossa's brother Marian - a two-time All-Star with Ottawa - was recently dealt to Atlanta.

THRASHERS: General manager Don Waddell met with the agent for holdout forward Ilya Kovalchuk, making progress on a new contract. Kovalchuk, a restricted free agent, has threatened to play the season in his native Russia if he doesn't reach an agreement with the Thrashers.

OILERS: Edmonton signed forward Rob Schremp, its second pick in the first round of the 2004 draft, to a three-year contract.

CAPITALS: Backup goalie Maxime Ouellet cleared waivers and was assigned to Hershey of the AHL. Washington activated right winger Chris Clark from the injured list.

[Last modified October 8, 2005, 01:26:19]