News

DALLAS – Steve Ott had three goals for his first career hat trick, scoring short-handed early in the first period and adding even-strength and power-play goals in the Dallas Stars’ 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Antti Niemi made 21 saves for his seventh shutout of the season and third in seven games and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t recognize some of the Tampa Bay players. Worse still, the Penguins didn’t recognize their own game against an opponent they figured to beat

Jason Pominville scored his team-leading 24th goal and the Buffalo Sabres inched closer to clinching the Northeast Division title with a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night

MONTREAL – Cam Ward kept the Hurricanes in it long enough to allow Eric Staal to score the winner in the third period, and Carolina hampered the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff chances with a 2-1 victory Wednesday

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Florida Panthers left wing Rostislav Olesz has missed the team’s game against the Buffalo Sabres because of a nagging hand injury

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Phoenix Coyotes have signed defenceman Chris Summers, one of their two first-round draft picks in 2006, to an entry level contract

PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will miss his fifth consecutive game and seventh in his past eight because of a bruised right foot

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Henrik Sedin had a short-handed goal and two assists Tuesday to lead the Vancouver Canucks closed in on a playoff berth with a 4-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes

TORONTO – Toronto head coach Ron Wilson likes what he sees in a trio of Maple Leafs players dubbed the “frat pack.”Wilson, who felt his team was listless through the first half of Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, overhauled his line combinations, including a creation that featured Tyler Bozak between Viktor Stalberg and Christian Hanson

ST. LOUIS – Alex Steen had two goals and an assist and scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the St. Louis Blues keep alive faint playoff hopes and hand the slumping Chicago Blackhawks their seventh loss in nine games with a 4-2 victory Tuesday night

NASHVILLE – One day after being recalled from Manchester of the American Hockey League, Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves to record his first career shutout and lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night

DETROIT – Brad Stuart scored with 1:07 left to lift the Detroit to a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night after the Red Wings blew a 4-0 second-period lead

WASHINGTON – Alex Kovalev scored a power-play goal 4:42 into overtime – his first point since the Olympic break – and the Ottawa Senators beat the Washington Capitals 5-4 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive win

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rick Nash scored twice, including the winner, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated Tampa Bay 3-2 on Tuesday night.Nash scored on the second of four consecutive power plays in the first 12 minutes of the final period to break a 2-2 tie

Patrice Bergeron scored on a rebound with 18.3 seconds left in overtime and the Boston Bruins maintained their hold on the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 1-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night

TORONTO – Nik Antropov picked the perfect time to get his first career goal against his former team, scoring the winner Tuesday in Atlanta’s 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs to keep the Thrashers’ playoff hopes alive

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Vinny Prospal, Olli Jokinen and Marian Gaborik scored second-period goals, and Marc Staal got the winner early in the third to lift the New York Rangers to a comeback 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Blues forward Paul Kariya has been sidelined after the first period of a game against the Chicago Blackhawks with what the team described as a lower body injury

CALGARY – The final stretch run of the regular season has become do-or-die time for the Calgary Flames.Four points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Flames have set their sights on winning their last six regular-season games, starting with Wednesday’s home game against the Phoenix Coyotes (9:30 p