NHL

Preds edge Wings again, lead division

By wire services
Published January 25, 2006

DETROIT - Paul Kariya's breakaway goal 35 seconds into overtime gave Nashville a 2-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday and put it in first place in the Central. It was the Predators' second win at Detroit in two nights.

Mathieu Schneider's five-on-three goal gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 10:32 in. He became the first defenseman to score in four consecutive games since the Kings' Jaroslav Modry in 2002-03.

Steve Sullivan, who scored in Monday's 3-2 victory, tied it with a short-handed goal 8:32 into the second. He picked up a loose puck along the left wing boards in the offensive zone. He skated in alone on Manny Legace, cut across the slot, made a move and put a shot over the prone goaltender.

Then in overtime, Kariya picked up a long pass from Marek Zidlicky, made a move to his backhand and beat Legace.

BRUINS 3, THRASHERS 2: P.J. Axelsson scored with 7:02 left for visiting Boston. Atlanta, which got back right wing Peter Bondra after missing 22 games with a groin injury, lost its third in a row. After the Bruins controlled a faceoff, Wayne Primeau, from behind the net, found Axelsson alone in front, and he beat Keri Lehtonen.

SABRES 2, RANGERS 1: Ales Kotalik had a goal and an assist for visiting Buffalo. Tied at 1, Kotalik scored 1:53 into the third after defenseman Marek Malik gave up the puck in the New York end. He scooped up the loose puck, wheeled and fired a wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist.

AVS 7, FLAMES 4: Joe Sakic scored two of host Colorado's five goals in the second. Sakic's first goals in 12 games gave him 561, moving him past Guy Lafleur for 18th all-time. He scored on a power play 23 seconds in, rebounding his shot, to put the Avalanche up 2-1. Sakic made it 3-2 on a power play at 7:41, and he set up John-Michael Liles' shot from the left circle at 10:36 to make it 4-2.

JACKETS 6, CANUCKS 5: Trevor Letowski scored with 4:37 left to cap Columbus' highest-scoring home game in history. The Blue Jackets, who got back forward Manny Malhotra (out 22 games with an injured shoulder) and defenseman Luke Richardson (16 with a broken jaw), blew leads of 2-0, 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4. But Jason Chimera carried the puck down the left wing and dropped a pass for Letowski. He deked Todd Bertuzzi, skated to the slot and scored.

DEVILS 4, ISLANDERS 0: Martin Brodeur made 24 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, all in the past 11 games, for visiting New Jersey, which has won 10 of 11. Up 1-0, Jamie Langenbrunner scored 19 seconds into the second from the edge of the crease. Brian Gionta tipped a shot at 4:34 to make it 3-0. And Viktor Kozlov's shot at 9:56 went between defenseman Radek Martinek's legs and in to chase goalie Rick DiPietro.

WILD 3, COYOTES 2: Brian Rolston scored twice for the second straight game for host Minnesota. Tied at 1 in the second, Rolston scored short-handed after Nick Schultz lost control of the puck. He broke in alone and ripped a shot past Brian Boucher. The Wild lost defenseman Andrei Zyuzin when he was checked face-first into the boards by Shane Doan. Bloodied, he hopes to play Thursday.

SHARKS 4, KINGS 1: Captain Patrick Marleau had two goals and an assist, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped just 14 shots in the San Jose Sharks' third victory over the Los Angeles Kings in less than three weeks, 4-1 on Tuesday night.

[Last modified January 25, 2006, 01:12:25]