News

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Last week, Dan LaCosta was toiling in the minors and waiting for a chance. He caught a break and became a top star in an NHL game twice in four days.

BOSTON – Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek and former Boston captain Joe Thornton scored in a 6:16 span of the third period to rally the San Jose Sharks to a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams on Tuesday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – Kari Lehtonen said it was a save. Steven Stamkos had no doubt it was a goal. The referees’ decision went with the goalie.Lehtonen made 40 saves, including stopping Stamkos on a penalty shot, to lead the Atlanta Thrashers past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday night.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Edmonton Oilers named Rod Daum as the new coach of the team’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, on Tuesday.Daum had been serving as a pro scout with the Oilers and will be behind the Falcons bench Wednesday against the Manchester Monarchs.

ST. LOUIS – Blues forward Paul Kariya underwent surgery on his right hip Tuesday, a little more than a month after an operation to fix his left hip.

SUNRISE, Fla. – This is one anniversary Richard Zednik chose not to commemorate.A year ago, the Florida Panthers forward left a trail of blood on the ice as he skated toward the bench.

MONTREAL – The Quebec government has given the Montreal Canadiens two grants totalling $250,000 to create educational materials for schools in the province.

PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby didn’t need to watch the Olympics last summer to know what swimmer Michael Phelps was going through in Beijing.The around-the-clock attention.

No one needs to tell Zach Parise the 50-goal mark is within reach.The New Jersey forward is already quite aware that the magic number keeps getting closer and closer.

Former Ottawa goalie Ray Emery has – for the time being – left his team in Russia in protest.

The 26-year-old oft-troubled netminder didn’t report back to Mytishchi Atlant following the end of the Kontinental League’s mid-season break and according to ESPN, Emery is citing salary-related issues as his reason for staying away.

EDMONTON – Edmonton Oilers defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky will undergo shoulder surgery this week and miss the rest of the season.Doctors will repair the labrum in his right shoulder on Thursday, a team spokesman said Tuesday.

The Kontinental League has announced the results from their recently held, quarterly Board of Directors meetings.

Among the decisions reached at the meeting is that the KHL has approved the establishment of a youth hockey league, starting in the 2009-10 season, in order to allow each team to grow and develop young prospects from the ages of 17-21 within their own system.

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins will be without forward Michael Ryder for up to three weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken facial bone.

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins will be without forward Michael Ryder for up to three weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a broken facial bone.

DALLAS – Sean Avery’s hockey career is about to resume in Hartford.The Dallas Stars have assigned him to the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack.

Scoring summaries from Monday’s NHL games:Canadiens 2 at Flames 6First Period1. Montreal, D’Agostini 10 (Higgins, Hamrlik) 10:172. Calgary, Cammalleri 28 (Pardy, Lombardi) 12:553.

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames ended a four-game losing streak by beating up on a team mired in a deep slump of its own.Matthew Lombardi and Dustin Boyd scored short-handed goals in a three-goal second period as the Flames overcame a 2-1 first-period deficit and beat the struggling Montreal Canadiens 6-2 Monday.

LONDON, Ont. – Fighting should be eliminated from hockey at all levels of the game, according to recommendations released Tuesday from an expert panel dealing with concussions in hockey.

Movements in the world of hockey Monday:National Hockey LeagueCAROLINA HURRICANES-Sent F Jakub Petruzalek and F Michael Ryan to Albany (AHL).

NEWARK, N.J. – Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves in posting his first NHL shutout in nearly five years, and Zach Parise scored twice to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 3-0 victory Monday night over the skidding New York Rangers.