News

NEW YORK – New York Rangers forward Sean Avery has been hospitalized after lacerating his spleen during a playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

BY JOHN GRIGG
According to reports, Fabian Brunnstrom – widely considered the best non-draft-eligable player outside the NHL – was in Dallas Tuesday night, taking in the Stars-Sharks game and contemplating heading to the Lone Star State for the 2008-09 season.

ZURICH, Switzerland – Rene Fasel is unopposed for re-election as president of the International Ice Hockey Federation after his only challenger withdrew from the race.

Scoring summaries from Tuesday’s NHL games:Penguins 5 at Rangers 3First Period1. Pittsburgh, Hossa 3 (Dupuis, Crosby) 1:022. N.Y. Rangers, Straka 3 (Jagr, Mara) 14:323.

DENVER – Pavel Datsyuk scored twice and Johan Franzen picked up his sixth goal of the series, putting the Detroit Red Wings on the cusp of the Western Conference finals with a 4-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.

Movements in the world of hockey Tuesday:National Hockey LeagueANAHEIM DUCKS-Signed C Ryan Carter to a three-year contract.COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS-Re-signed D Jan Hejda to a three-year contract.

DALLAS – Mattias Norstrom scored from the top of the left circle 4:37 into overtime and the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Tuesday night to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

FRISCO, Tex. – Steve Ott is sticking with the Stars.Dallas re-signed the centre to a two-year contract worth US$2.85 million ($1.35 million in ’08-09 and $1.

NEW YORK – Evgeni Malkin and the perfect Pittsburgh Penguins pushed the New York Rangers to the brink of elimination.Malkin, hours after being announced as a finalist for the NHL MVP award, scored two power-play goals and added an assist to lift Pittsburgh to a 5-3 victory Tuesday night that stretched the Penguins’ lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series to 3-0.

TORONTO – The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association are working together to examine the size and configuration of goalie equipment.The league and the union have formed a group to look at the issue and will meet June 11 in Toronto.

HALIFAX – When a season ends in disappointment, NHL players don’t want to find themselves anywhere near an arena. Often, they don’t even want to stay in town.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Jan Hejda to a three-year contract, bringing back a player who was one of their best finds a year ago.

PHILADELPHIA – Carey Price may have been all smiles at practice Tuesday but there was no guarantee the 20-year-old rookie would be back in net for the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

DENVER – The ailing Colorado Avalanche lost leading scorer Paul Stastny to a knee injury in the first period of Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche expect to have centre Peter Forsberg and defenceman Scott Hannan back for Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings, but forward Ryan Smyth is out with a foot injury.

DENVER – Centre Peter Forsberg and defenceman Scott Hannan were back in Colorado’s lineup for Game 3 against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, but forward Ryan Smyth was out with a foot injury.

VOORHEES, N.J. – The Philadelphia Flyers will get a big boost when their second-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens resumes Wednesday.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Centre Ryan Carter, who appeared in 34 games for Anaheim as a rookie this past season, has signed a three-year contract with the Ducks.

MONTREAL – A new poll suggests the Montreal Canadiens have overtaken the Toronto Maple Leafs as Canada’s team.The Canadian Press Harris/Decima survey found 40 per cent of Canadians identified the Habs as the nation’s hockey team of choice, compared with 24 per cent for Leafs.

MONTREAL – After watching Toronto miss the NHL playoffs for a third consecutive season, Leaf Nation must suffer one more indignity – being usurped by the Montreal Canadiens as “Canada’s team.