Osgood Makes His Point As Red Wings Win Again

NHL

Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood didn’t think twice when he spotted an empty net at the far end of the ice Wednesday night at Hartford, Conn.

Osgood became the first goalie since April 11, 1989, to score a goal in the National Hockey League, and the first to score in the regular season since Dec. 8, 1987.

The goal capped Detroit’s 4-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers and made the Red Wings the fourth-fastest club in league history to reach 100 points in a season. It also gave the Red Wings a franchise-record 48 wins.

“It was great. I was really excited,” said Osgood, who leads the NHL with 32 victories. “In juniors, I used to take shots all the time, but here I usually pass it off to a defenseman. When we got the empty net this time, I said I was going to go for it.”

Red Wings 4, Whalers 2

Detroit 1 1 2 - 4

Hartford 1 0 1 - 2

First period-1, Detroit, Kozlov 32 (Larionov, Primeau), 2:31. 2, Hartford, Emerson 24 (Sanderson, Cassels), 8:24 (pp).

Second period-3, Detroit, Ciccarelli 14 (Yzerman, Fedorov), 9:39 (pp).

Third period-4, Detroit, Fedorov 28 (Larionov, Yzerman), 1:28 (pp). 5, Hartford, Nikolishin 9, 4:59. 6, Detroit, Osgood 1, 19:49 (en).

Shots on goal-Detroit 7-13-8-28. Hartford 8-10-10-28.Power-play opp.-Detroit 2 of 5; Hartford 1 of 5.Goalies-Detroit, Osgood 32-5-3 (28 shots-26 saves). Hartford, Burke 21-23-5 (27-24).A-11,252 (15,635).

Stars 2, Sharks 1

San Jose, Calif.

Joe Nieuwendyk’s power-play goal with 3:29 remaining lifted Dallas over San Jose.

Dallas’ Kevin Hatcher had taken a shot from the blue line that went wide of the net. However, the puck bounced off the back wall and Nieuwendyk picked it up about 4 feet from the net and scored the game-winner. It was Nieuwendyk’s 12th goal of the year.

Dallas 0 1 1 - 2

San Jose 0 1 0 - 1

First period-None.

Second period-1, San Jose, Dahlen 12 (Peltonen, Sykora), 6:53. 2, Dallas, Gilchrist 16 (D.Hatcher, Fedyk), 17:36.

Third period-3, Dallas, Nieuwendyk 12 (K.Hatcher, Modano), 16:31 (pp).

Shots on goal-Dallas 7-14-11-32. San Jose 11-8-6-25.Power-play opp.-Dallas 1 of 4; San Jose 0 of 2.Goalies-Dallas, Moog, 11-10-5 (25 shots-24 saves). San Jose, Terreri, 12-27-1 (32-30).A-17,190 (17,190).

Kings 3, Oilers 2

Inglewood, Calif.

Barry Potomski tied the score with his second goal of the season and Yanic Perreault broke the deadlock midway through the third period with a short-handed goal as Los Angeles beat Edmonton.

The Kings recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since Jan. 5-6 in a home-and-home set with the San Jose Sharks.

Edmonton 1 1 0 - 2

Los Angeles 1 0 2 - 3

First period-1, Los Angeles, Johnson 9 (Druce, Kurri), 6:43 (pp). 2, Edmonton, Satan 12 (Norton, Weight), 12:00 (pp).

Second period-3, Edmonton, Weight 23 (Ciger), 11:22.

Third period-4, Los Angeles, Potomski 2 (Tardif, Johnson), 5:09. 5, Los angeles, Perreault 20 (Slaney, Yachmenev), 10:01 (sh).

Shots on goal-Edmonton 14-7-7-28. Los Angeles 13-6-17-36.Power-play opp.-Edmonton 1 of 5; Los Angeles 1 of 8.Goalies-Edmonton, Joseph 8-12-1 (36 shots-33 saves). Los Angeles, Dafoe 12-19-6 (28-26).A-11,401 (16,005).

Devils 2, Maple Leafs 2

Toronto

Dave Andreychuk’s goal 6:37 into the third period pulled Toronto into a tie with New Jersey, ending an eight-game losing streak that had cost Pat Burns his coaching job.

With interim head coach Nick Beverley behind the bench, Doug Gilmour also scored for the Leafs, while Stephane Richer scored both goals for New Jersey, 4-0-2 in its last six.

New Jersey 1 1 0 0 - 2

Toronto 0 1 1 0 - 2

First Period-1, New Jersey, Richer 14, 7:57 (sh).

Second Period-2, New Jersey, Richer 15 (Carpenter), 9:24. 3, Toronto, Gilmour 24 (Gill, Gartner), 16:05.

Third Period-4, Toronto, Andreychuk 18 (Domi, Gilmour), 6:37.

Overtime-None.

Shots on goal-New Jersey 13-11-6-1-31. Toronto 10-18-8-3-38.Power-play Opp.-New Jersey 0 of 3; Toronto 0 of 3.Goalies-New Jersey, Brodeur 26-22-10 (38 shots-36 saves). Toronto, Potvin 21-22-10 (31-29).A-15,746 (15,746).

Canucks 5, Sabres 2

Vancouver, British Columbia

Russ Courtnall scored three goals in the second period to lead Vancouver past Buffalo.

With the Canucks leading 2-0, Courtnall scored on a breakaway, added a power-play goal and got a third on a short-handed effort, all in a span of 9 minutes, 35 seconds.

Buffalo 0 0 2 - 2

Vancouver 1 4 0 - 5

First period-1, Vancouver, Linden 26 (Lumme, Aucoin), 4:55 (pp).

Second period-2, Vancouver, Lumme 14 (Beranek, Tikkanen), 2:20. 3, Vancouver, Courtnall 18, 6:14. 4, Vancouver, Courtnall 19 (Gelinas), 13:22 (pp). 5, Vancouver, Courtnall 20 (Gelinas, Babych), 15:49 (sh).

Third period-6, Buffalo, LaFontaine 32 (May, Conn), 4:30. 7, Buffalo, Huddy 5 (LaFontaine, Conn), 17:51.

Shots on goal-Buffalo 1-10-13-24. Vancouver 14-11-4-29.Power-play opp.-Buffalo 1 of 7; Vancouver 2 of 6.Goalies-Buffalo, Hasek 19-23-6 (25 shots-20 saves), Trefilov (0:00 third, 4-4). Vancouver, Hirsch 14-10-6 (24-22).A-16,473 (18,422).

Bad news Bruin

Boston Bruins winger Cam Neely fears his hip injury, which resulted from years of compensating for leg and knee problems, might curtail his career.

“When it gets better - if it gets better - how long will it stay better? Because I’m told now it’s not something that will ever totally be healed. It’ll just calm down,” the three-time 50-goal scorer told the Boston Herald.

“Because I’m not skating the way I want to, I can’t get in there the way I used to. My left leg feels as good as it ever has since I hurt it. But it’s not what it was before I got hurt. Now, with the right hip affecting my skating, too, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Maybe next year

If Rangers center Mark Messier reaches 50 goals he will not be the oldest player to do so.

A mistake in the NHL guide listed former Bruin John Bucyk as 35 years, 1 month when he scored 50 on March 16, 1971. Born May 12, 1935, he was 35 years and 10 months.

Messier needs nine goals to reach that plateau for the second time in his career. If he does it by April 14, he will be 35 years, 2 months and 26 days.