NHL

Wings making Jackets blue

By wire services
Published October 25, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - As good as they are, the Red Wings don't seem to think they're quite good enough.

Brendan Shanahan and Pavel Datsyuk each scored two goals to help Detroit beat the Blue Jackets 6-2 on Monday night for their sixth straight victory.

"We were ready to play," Datsyuk said. "We have to keep it going. We need to get better and better."

The league-leading Red Wings are 9-1-0 and 5-0-0 on the road.

Mathieu Schneider and Henrik Zetterberg each added a goal and an assist, Jason Williams and Niklas Lidstrom had two assists apiece, and Datsyuk added an assist to go with his goals in support of Manny Legace, who had 31 saves.

Legace, who has been in goal every game for the Red Wings, tied the league record and set a club mark for wins by a goaltender in October.

The Red Wings outscored the Blue Jackets 12-2 in two meetings at Nationwide Arena in three days. They won 6-0 Saturday behind Jason Williams' first three-goal game.

Datsyuk, who has goals in his past three games, cracked the game open by scoring twice in the second period.

Columbus was within 3-2 when the Blue Jackets' Steven Goertzen drew a five-minute boarding penalty, leading to two power-play goals by the Red Wings.

HURRICANES 3, SENATORS 2: Frantisek Kaberle scored early in the third and Carolina rallied from a two-goal deficit to hand Ottawa its first loss of the season.

The result left Nashville as the only unbeaten team in the league.

After scoring twice in the first three minutes, the visiting Senators couldn't solve Martin Gerber, who started in place of the injured Cam Ward (arm).

MAPLE LEAFS 5, BRUINS 4 (SO): Ed Belfour put a shaky sequence behind him in a hurry.

Belfour had 49 saves and three more in the shootout to lead host Toronto.

"It's just crazy," the 40-year-old Belfour said. "An emotional roller coaster. One minute you're a slug, the next minute you're a hero."

Eric Lindros was the lone scorer in the shootout.

Glen Murray gave Boston a 3-2 lead midway through the second with a shot Belfour couldn't catch, and Brad Boyes made it 4-3 at 3:05 of the third after Belfour left his crease to clear a puck behind his net - which is illegal under the new rules. Belfour realized he couldn't clear it and Boyes easily put the puck past him for his second goal.

Also, Toronto's Mats Sundin won't need surgery on his injured left eye. The center's left orbital bone was fractured when he was struck by a puck Oct.5 in the opener against Ottawa.

[Last modified October 25, 2005, 03:00:29]