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NHL roundup: Saturday's action on the ice

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

7/02/2010 2:36 AM | Comments: 0

The Atlanta Thrashers overcame a four-hour bus ride, a minor car accident, a charter flight and late start to return home and beat the Florida Panthers.

Niclas Bergfors scored the go-ahead goal, his first with the team, with 4:26 left and the Thrashers beat the Panthers 4-2 on Saturday night to end a three-game losing streak. Bergfors, playing his second game for the Thrashers after joining the team in a trade that sent superstar Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey, scored on a 15-foot blast that went between goalie Tomas Vokoun's legs. Bergfors had 14 goals this season.

"It had been a month since I scored a goal," he said. "It was great. It means a lot."

Actually, it was more like five weeks. His last goal came was Dec. 30 against Pittsburgh.

He played his first game with Atlanta in a 5-2 loss at Washington on Friday night. He still hasn't practised with the team.

"It's nice to get practise, but it doesn't necessarily mean that much," said Bergfors, a rookie who was a first round pick by the Penguins (23rd overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

"Very opportunist," said Atlanta coach John Anderson of Bergfors. "I was telling him after the second period, don't be afraid to be a hero. Lo and behold. Great shot, great play."

Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Vancouver 3, Boston 2 (SO); Los Angeles 4, Detroit 3; Toronto 5, Ottawa 0; Carolina 3, New York Islanders 1; New York Rangers 3, New Jersey 1; Chicago 2, St. Louis 1; Minnesota 2, Philadelphia 1; Montreal 5, Pittsburgh 3; Dallas 4, Phoenix 0; Tampa Bay 2, Calgary 1 (OT); Columbus 4, Buffalo 0; San Jose 4, Nashville 3; and Colorado 3, Edmonton 0.

At Atlanta, Evander Kane added an empty-net goal for the Thrashers, his 12th, with 1:14 left.

After the game started 53 minutes late due to the winter storm delaying the Thrashers, Radek Dvorak scored twice in the first period to give Florida a 2-0 lead, but Atlanta's Max Afinogenov and Bryan Little countered in the second.

"We had the game under control. We were up by two goals, then the game shifted a little bit to their side," Dvorak said.

Dvorak, scoreless in his previous 15 games after scoring three goals in a 6-2 win over Pittsburgh on Jan. 3, got his first goal at 6:18 of the opening period. He directed a shot by Jordan Leopold past goalie Johan Hedberg. Dvorak added his 11th with 3:15 left, knocking in a rebound of a blast from Kamil Kreps.

"We have to keep pushing and pressing and play our game," he said. "In the end, it's 4-2. We have to learn from that."

Afinogenov got the Thrashers on the board with a power-play goal 3:49 into the second period, beating Vokoun from in close for his 18th goal. Little tied it at two with his ninth goal on a rebound of a shot by Tobias Enstrom at 8:39.

Nik Antropov assisted on all three Atlanta goals.

The Panthers lost their third straight and fourth in five games.

Kings 4, Red Wings 3

At Los Angeles, Michal Handzus scored his second goal of the game with 2:21 to play, and the Kings furiously rallied from a three-goal deficit to set a franchise record with their ninth straight victory.

Canucks 3, Bruins 2 (SO)

At Boston, Pavol Demitra tied it on a tip-in with 4:42 left and scored the only shootout goal to help Vancouver hand the Bruins their 10th straight loss.

Stars 4, Coyotes 0

At Dallas, Marty Turco made 34 shots for his 39th career shutout, rookie Jamie Benn had his first two-goal game, and the Stars snapped road-weary Coyotes' season-best winning streak at six games.

Canadiens 5, Penguins 3

At Montreal, Brian Gionta had two goals and an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves in the Canadiens' third straight victory.

Maple Leafs 5, Senators 0

At Toronto, Jean-Sebastien Giguere became the first goalie in Toronto history to have shutouts in his first two games with the team, stopping 30 shots to help the Maple Leafs end Ottawa's team-record winning streak at 11.

Rangers 3, Devils 1

At New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 41 saves, and Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury scored second-period goals for the Rangers.

Lightning 2, Flames 1

At Tampa, Fla., Andrej Meszaros scored 1:58 into overtime to give the Lightning its seventh victory in 10 games.

Blue Jackets 4, Sabres 0

At Columbus, Ohio, Steve Mason stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season for the Blue Jackets, and Rick Nash and Raffi Torres scored against the NHL's top penalty-killing team.

Hurricanes 3, Islanders 1

At Uniondale, N.Y., Justin Peters made 34 saves in his NHL debut, and Jussi Jokinen, Patrick Dwyer and Joni Pitkanen scored for Carolina.

Sharks 4, Predators 3

At Nashville, Tenn., Dany Heatley scored his second power-play goal of the game at 11:57 of the third period to break a tie in San Jose's victory.

Blackhawks 2, Blues 1

At St. Louis, Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist, Antti Niemi stopped 34 shots and Chicago snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.

Wild 2, Flyers 1

At St. Paul, Minn., Anton Khudobin made 38 saves in his first NHL start, and Cal Clutterbuck and Owen Nolan scored for Minnesota.

Avalanche 3, Oilers 0

At Denver, Craig Anderson made 20 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and Wojtek Wolski, Ryan Wilson and Brandon Yip scored for Colorado.

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