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NHL briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 21, 2000

Devils vex Stars again in Cup final rematch

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils still have the Dallas Stars' number.

Patrik Elias had a goal and three assists in the opening 10:29 as the Devils drove Ed Belfour to the bench and defeated the Stars 4-1 Wednesday in their first meeting since New Jersey beat Dallas in the Stanley Cup final.

Elias' linemates, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora, and Stanley Cup MVP Scott Stevens also scored, and Martin Brodeur had 23 saves in the one-sided game.

"Those guys just click together," Belfour said. "I don't know if they play that way all the time, but they definitely play very well against us.'

Kirk Muller scored early to prevent Dallas from being shut out for the second straight game.

The game was reminiscent of Game1 of the final. The Devils won that one 7-3 behind an 11-point performance by the line of Arnott, Elias and Sykora. The trio dominated play again, accounting for nine points.

PANTHERS 2, PENGUINS 2: Milan Kraft scored a short-handed goal for visiting Pittsburgh in the third period, but the Penguins lost a chance to win when Alexei Kovalev's apparent overtime goal was disallowed.

Kovalev skated in on Florida goaltender Trevor Kidd and wristed a high-riser into the net with 1:10 left. But Florida's Anders Eriksson slid into Kidd and inadvertently unlodged the net. After a review, referees Bernard Degrace and Mark Faucette waved off the goal.

"I don't care, those two guys have been bad for us," Kovalev said. "What else can you say? They do what they want to do."

Pavel Bure, whose power-play goal in the second gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead, hit the post on a breakaway with 3:21 left in overtime. Pittsburgh goalie Rich Parent, who had 20 saves, got a piece of Bure's shot.

SHARKS 2, RED WINGS 0: Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves for his third shutout and visiting San Jose won its fifth straight. The victory was the Sharks' second in 19 regular-season games at Joe Louis Arena.

In the first period, Detroit goalie Chris Osgood made the initial save on Niklas Sundstrom, but Stephane Matteau scored on the 11:55 in. Just 1:30 later, Owen Nolan passed to Mike Ricci, who lifted the puck over Osgood.

SABRES 2, CAPITALS 2: Miroslav Satan scored with 14:57 left in regulation and visiting Buffalo survived a flurry of Washington scoring chances late in overtime. Satan tied the score when he knocked a blind pass from J.P. Dumont past goalie Olaf Kolzig.

Trent Whitfield had the best chance to win it for Washington, but he pushed the puck through the empty crease with 1:13 left.

Buffalo goalie Martin Biron made five overtime saves and 30 overall.

BLUES 6, RANGERS 3: Pavol Demitra tied career highs with three goals and five points and Roman Turek stopped 20 shots for visiting St. Louis, which extended its unbeaten streak to 10. Demitra, the Blues' leading scorer last season, has rebounded from a slow start to register six goals and eight assists in five games. The right wing had only five goals and three assists in the first 15 games.

WILD 2, SENATORS 2: Darby Hendrickson scored two goals as host Minnesota rallied from a two-goal deficit. Hendrickson tied the score with a power-play goal early in the third period, beating Patrick Lalime with a chip shot into the upper right corner. The Wild had not scored in 45 power plays.

PREDATORS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1: Robert Valicevic scored thw winner with 1:31 left for visiting Nashville. The Predators remained undefeated against Toronto, improving to 2-0-1 in their three-year existence.

BLUE JACKETS: Left wing Steve Maltais, who had three assists in 24 games, was sent to Chicago of the International Hockey League.

ISLANDERS: Defenseman Kenny Jonsson could miss up to a month with a sprained left knee.

KINGS: Forward Ziggy Palffy, the league's second-leading scorer (21 goals, 25 assists), was put on the injured reserve list retroactive to Sunday with a strained right hamstring. He was hurt Saturday during a 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay and hasn't played since.

OILERS 3, CANUCKS 2 (OT): Anson Carter scored on a power play at 2:41 of overtime to cap host Edmonton's rally. Doug Weight had a goal and an assist in the third period to help bring the Oilers back from a two-goal deficit.

COYOTES 4, FLAMES 2: Keith Tkachuk broke the longest scoring drought of his career with three goals for host Phoenix. Tkachuk had two goals in a Nov. 16 win over Colorado, then went 11 games without a goal.

MAPLE LEAFS: Defenseman Petr Svoboda was recalled, and defenseman Nathan Dempsey was re-assigned.

SHARKS: The City Council approved a $47-million deal to sell Compaq Corp. the naming rights to San Jose's arena and extend the team's lease in the building another 10 years. San Jose Arena will be known as Compaq Center at San Jose next season.

FLYERS: The team hasn't gotten any offers for Eric Lindros mostly because no team will be able to insure his contract against another head injury, team and insurance executives said.

"It's very unlikely that any player suffering four concussions in one season would be covered for that injury by our company," said Dave Meyer, vice president of sales and marketing for Trustmark Insurance Co., the league's disability coverage carrier.

Also, forward Kevin Stevens can return to Philadelphia while he completes a court-supervised drug program. The deal, approved in Madison County (Ill.), says if Stevens completes up to 18 months of tests, court appearances and recovery meetings, the felony drug charge pending against him will be dropped.

Late Tuesday

FLAMES 3, AVALANCHE 0: Mike Vernon stopped 34 shots for visiting Calgary. In the third period, he denied Adam Deadmarsh's back-hander with a sprawling save and stopped Peter Forsberg's breakaway.

THRASHERS 7, KINGS 6 (OT): Two ex-Kings connected on the winning goal 1:20 into overtime for visiting Atlanta. Frantisek Kaberle scored on a rebound off a shot by Donald Audette, who had two goals and two assists. Los Angeles' Steve Reinprecht forced overtime on a goal with 14 seconds left in regulation.

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