Sports: NHL briefs

NHL briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

Stars still play listlessly in 5-2 loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina's new style got some major reinforcement Tuesday night.

Rod Brind'Amour and Bates Battaglia scored four minutes apart early in a three-goal second period as the Hurricanes beat the Dallas Stars 5-2.

"This proves to everybody in this room that we can play our open style but still not be ridiculous about it and be smart in our own end," said Jeff O'Neill, who scored Carolina's first goal.

Sandis Ozolinsh added a short-handed goal late in the second as Carolina defeated goalie Marty Turco, who made his NHL debut as Ed Belfour rested.

The defending Western Conference champions were sluggish after Monday night's victory at Toronto and are off to a 1-2-1 start, scoring eight goals.

"I think they are a little bit tired," O'Neill said. "The kid in net got hung out to dry a little bit. But they've won enough times, so tough for them."

Carolina led 1-0 before Brind'Amour scored his first of the season off a pass from Sami Kapanen, who took a shot on Turco, got the rebound and slipped the puck to wide open Brind'Amour.

Battaglia scored off a perfect pass from Ron Francis on a 2-on-1 to make it 3-0.

AVALANCHE 3, FLAMES 1: Patrick Roy made 28 saves for visiting Colorado and moved closer to Terry Sawchuk's career wins record.

After starting the season with a pair of ties, Roy earned his 445th win to move within two victories of tying Sawchuk's record.

Roy was 50 seconds from his 49th career shutout when Dwayne Hay's shot from the left wing trickled through his pads. Hay made his Flames debut. He was claimed off waivers from the Lightning before the season.

Adam Deadmarsh, Peter Forsberg, and Shjon Podein scored for the Avalanche. Ray Bourque and Adam Foote totaled four assists.

CANADIENS 5, OILERS 2: Saku Koivu and Patrice Brisebois scored power-play goals in the second, and Benoit Brunet scored twice in Montreal's 91st home opener.

Craig Darby also scored for the Canadiens, who were outscored 10-4 in losing their first two games, to New Jersey and Toronto.

A crowd of 20,108 was on hand at the Molson Centre, more than 1,000 below the 4-year-old arena's capacity.

CAPITALS: General manager George McPhee and coach Ron Wilson signed extensions. Terms were not released. The club is 115-102-31 under their direction.

FLYERS: Left wing John LeClair is expected to be out at least a week because of a back injury. LeClair will have treatment and hopes to be in the lineup Tuesday against Ottawa.

HURRICANES: Rookie defenseman Niclas Wallin (broken wrist bone) will miss 3-4 weeks.

PENGUINS: Garth Snow, the veteran goalie who signed a minor-league contract last week, was recalled to back up Jean-Sebastien Aubin. Snow, 31, has career marks of 77-80-27 and 2.79. The Pens also sent goalies Rich Parent and Sebastien Caron to the minors.

RED WINGS: On the day captain Steve Yzerman was activated from the injured list, Detroit said goodbye to feisty Joe Kocur, who will serve as team video coordinator. Yzerman is expected to play at home tonight against the Oilers.