NHL Roundup : Flyers Keep Winning and Islanders Keep Losing, 4-2

Ron Sutter and the Philadelphia Flyers are playing with confidence these days, and there’s a reason for that.

Thursday night at Uniondale, N.Y., Sutter scored twice and defenseman Jeff Chychrun added his first National Hockey League goal as the Flyers beat the New York Islanders, 4-2, for their sixth straight victory.

It was the Islanders’ 14th loss in their last 15 games, and their fifth in six games since Al Arbour replaced Terry Simpson as coach.

The Flyers are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and improved to 18-17-2 for 38 points, creating a three-way tie for second place with Washington and the New York Rangers in the Patrick Division. It’s the first time the Flyers have been above .500 since Nov. 6.

Sutter suffered a broken jaw on Oct. 29 and missed 22 games. While he was out of the lineup, the Flyers slumped badly.

“What’s happened has happened. I just want to put it behind me,” said Sutter, who returned Dec. 15. “I was confident I could pick up where I left off. The best way to get back is under game conditions, and I was glad (Coach) Paul (Holmgren) put me right in.”

Montreal 4, Boston 2--Bobby Smith and Claude Lemieux scored power-play goals as the Canadiens won at Boston to continue their dominance in the Adams Division.

Beaten only once in the last 14 games and only twice in their last 20, the Canadiens improved their season record against Boston to 4-0-1 and increased their Adams Division lead to 15 points over the second-place Bruins.

Montreal goalie Patrick Roy (15-3-3), who has been beaten only once in his last 16 games, had 24 saves.

“We’re surprised about our big lead, but we’re humble about that,” said Ryan Walter, who scored a goal for Montreal. “It’s not the end of the season, only halfway.”

Even Coach Terry O’Reilly had to admit that his injury-riddled Bruins are no match for the Canadiens.

“I thought we worked our tails off, but we played a team that’s much better than us right now,” O’Reilly said. “Right now we’re playing without three defenseman who took us to the finals last year (Ray Bourque, Gord Kluzak and Allen Pedersen) and one playing with a broken thumb (Michael Thelvin).”

Detroit 4, St. Louis 4--Steve Yzerman had 2 goals and 2 assists, extending his scoring streak to 23 games, and the Red Wings rallied from a 2-goal deficit to tie the Blues at St. Louis.

Yzerman’s power-play goal at 12:05 of the third period, his 34th goal of the season, beat St. Louis goaltender Vincent Riendeau with a wrist shot from the right side to tie the score.

Yzerman’s scoring streak, already a club record, ties the NHL high for the season, held by the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky. Yzerman has 56 points on 26 goals and 30 assists during his streak.

Brett Hull and Peter Zezel each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who had built a 3-1 second-period lead in an effort to avenge a 6-3 loss to Detroit Tuesday night.