NHL ROUNDUP : Rangers’ Unbeaten Streak Reaches Nine

The New York Rangers won their seventh consecutive game and stretched their unbeaten streak to nine, beating the Washington Capitals, 2-0, behind a 21-save effort by goalie Mike Richter Saturday night at Landover, Md.

“The guys are playing so well in front of me that I can’t really get excited about this,” said Richter after his fifth career shutout. “They didn’t give me an awful lot of work, but it still felt good.”

The loss ended Washington’s six-game winning streak. Rick Tabaracci, who came in with a league-best 1.98 goals-against average, stopped 22 shots but suffered his second defeat of the season.

Sergei Nemchinov and Mike Gartner scored first-period goals for the Rangers, who gained sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division for the first time this season.

Calgary 4, Vancouver 3--Theoren Fleury had three assists and scored a goal late in the third period to help the Flames prevail at Calgary.

Robert Reichel scored two goals and Al MacInnis had one for the Flames, who increased their lead in the Pacific Division to eight points over the Canucks. Trevor Linden had two goals and Geoff Courtnall one for Vancouver, which got 27 saves from goalie Kirk McLean.

Ottawa 3, Montreal 2--Dave McLlwain tied the score late in the third period and scored 3:22 into overtime, lifting the Senators at Montreal.

Jarmo Kekalainen also scored for Ottawa, which earned its first points in five visits to Montreal’s Forum since joining the NHL last season. Kirk Muller and Brian Bellows scored power-play goals for the Canadiens.

Dallas 3, Winnipeg 2--Ulf Dahlen’s goal early in the third period lifted the Stars at Winnipeg. The Jets have lost five consecutive games at home. Neal Broten scored two goals for Dallas. Keith Tkachuk and Luciano Borsato scored for Winnipeg.

Hartford 4, Edmonton 4--Rookie Jason Arnott and Zdeno Ciger scored 31 seconds apart late in the third period to rally the Oilers to a tie at Hartford.

Hartford’s Frank Pietrangelo was protecting a 4-2 lead before the Oilers rallied to escape with only their third point over the last 17 games. The point was also the third over the last 12 games for Hartford.

Boston 5, N.Y. Islanders 2--Don Sweeney, David Shaw and Steve Leach scored late third period goals at Uniondale, N.Y., to help the Bruins maintain their recent domination over the Islanders. The Bruins are undefeated in their last six meetings against the Islanders and have won their last five games overall.

Detroit 7, Pittsburgh 3--Greg Johnson and Vyacheslav Kozlov each scored twice as the Red Wings ended a six-year winless streak at Pittsburgh.

The Red Wings had gone 0-8-1 at Pittsburgh while being outscored, 50-24, since Jan. 18, 1987. Kozlov scored his first two goals of the season in a four-goal second period.

Johnson’s second goal was shorthanded and gave the Red Wings a 5-1 lead midway through the second period.

Tampa Bay 4, Quebec 3--Denis Savard’s goal at 10:01 of the third period gave the Lightning a victory at Tampa Bay and ended its nine-game winless streak.

Center Mats Sundin scored his 12th and 13th goals and added an assist for Quebec.

San Jose 4, New Jersey 2--Sergei Makarov scored two goals at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Sharks ended the Devils’ four-game winning streak.

San Jose ended a three-game winless streak and won its second road game of the season.

Buffalo 7, Philadelphia 2--With center Eric Lindros sidelined because of a knee injury, the Flyers lost for the fourth time in five games as the Sabres won at Philadelphia. Derek Plante had two goals, and Alexander Mogilny stretched his point-scoring streak to seven games by scoring once.

Chicago 3, Toronto 2--Jeremy Roenick scored late in the third period to help the Blackhawks deal the Maple Leafs their first home loss of the season.