Month: December 2008

Scoring summaries from Thursday’s NHL games:Rangers 2 at Canadiens 6 First Period1. Montreal, A.Kostitsyn 6 (D’Agostini, Markov) 9:522. Montreal, Begin 4 (Lapierre, Laraque) 10:473.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal with 12:19 to play, and the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks shook off a terrible start to earn their ninth straight victory, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Martin Hanzal had his first three-goal game in the NHL, and Steven Reinprecht added a pair of third-period goals in the Phoenix Coyotes’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

HAMILTON – Ryan Jones’ second goal of the game came broke a third-period tie as the Milwaukee Admirals beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-4 in American Hockey League action.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vernon Fiddler, Shea Weber and David Legwand scored first-period goals, and Pekka Rinne made 19 saves in the Nashville Predators’ 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Craig Anderson made 45 saves, and Gregory Campbell and Keith Ballard scored 35 seconds apart in the second period in the Florida Panthers’ 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

PHILADELPHIA – Patrik Elias scored the tying and winning goals in the New Jersey Devils’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – David Krejci scored the tiebreaking short-handed goal in the third period to lead the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 on Thursday night.

DETROIT – Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary each scored twice and the Detroit Red Wings broke a tie with a three-goal outburst early in the third period in a 6-5 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Blue Jackets left-wing Raffi Torres was set to have arthroscopic knee surgery Friday. He will be sidelined two to four weeks.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Petr Sykora scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had four assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed Carolina 5-2 Thursday night to spoil the start of Paul Maurice’s second stint coaching the slumping Hurricanes.

MONTREAL – Fourth liners Maxim Lapierre and Steve Begin each had a goal and an assist and enforcer Georges Laraque got his first two points as a Canadien as Montreal downed the listless New York Rangers 6-2 on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON – Desperate for firepower, the injury-laden Washington Capitals received an offensive boost from the unlikeliest source.Enforcer Donald Brashear scored his first goal of the season with 13:10 left to snap a tie, and the Capitals went on to beat the New York Islanders 5-2 Thursday night.

HOUSTON – Mark Cullen, Mark Derlago and Michael Grabner scored consecutive shootout goals to lead the Manitoba Moose to a 3-2 win over the Houston Aeros in a rare Thursday afternoon game in the AHL.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Justin Williams was activated by the Carolina Hurricanes before Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.The Hurricanes placed defenceman Dennis Seidenberg on injured reserve with a leg injury.

MONTREAL – Statues of four hockey legends were unveiled as the Montreal Canadiens celebrated their 99th birthday with the opening of Centennial Plaza at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

CHICAGO – Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell has an advantage going into this year’s Winter Classic against Detroit at Wrigley Field.

NEW YORK – Barry Melrose will return to ESPN as a hockey analyst on Jan. 1.Melrose, who was fired as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning last month, will appear on SportsCenter and ESPNEWS.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Hard-hitting Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is out indefinitely after being placed on injured reserve Thursday because of a head and neck injury.

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals recalled forward Keith Aucoin from Hershey on Thursday and assigned forward Graham Mink to the American Hockey League club.