NHL: Atlanta win costly
The Thrashers snapped a five-game losing streak, but Atlanta’s 4-1 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night might have been costly as leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk left the game with an apparent knee injury.
Kovalchuk scored his 38th goal but was forced out of the game for good in the second period. He was injured in a knee-on-knee hit from Pittsburgh’s Jarkko Ruutu and made a brief return later in the frame for one shift, but he didn’t return.
Kovalchuk was leveled by Ruutu 3:21 into the second period. The collision left Kovalchuk lying on the ice in obvious pain in front of Atlanta’s bench before he limped to the locker room.
Atlanta’s Steve McCarthy immediately followed the collision by crashing into Ruutu and then punching the left winger while having him pinned against the boards in front of the Thrashers bench.
“I meant to finish my check,” Ruutu said. “He ducked away and I barely hit him. I didn’t change direction. I just went for a hit.”
Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2: Nicklas Lidstrom’s goal with 7:28 left completed a comeback and lifted Detroit to a win over visiting Phoenix.
Lidstrom also had two assists, and Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored the other goals. Pavel Datsyuk had three assists and Chris Osgood made 32 saves, including stopping Shane Doan on a breakaway with 30 seconds left.
Wild 5, Ducks 1: Brian Rolston, Marian Gaborik and Mikko Koivu scored less than two minutes apart in the second period, and Minnesota beat Anaheim in St. Paul, Minn.
Anaheim lost its fourth straight after a six-game winning streak.
Sabres 1, Panthers 0: Thomas Vanek scored a power-play goal in the first minute of the second period and Ryan Miller stopped 32 shots to lead Buffalo over Florida in Sunrise, Fla.
Avalanche 6, Blackhawks 3: Marek Svatos scored twice and Colorado doubled up Chicago in Denver.
Flames 5, Sharks 4: Owen Nolan’s 11th career hat trick helped Calgary outlast San Jose in Calgary, Alberta.
The Sharks lost in regulation on the road for the second time in 17 games.