NHL ROUNDUP : Essensa Still Not the Answer

The Detroit Red Wings were just a player short, and they got him--goaltender Bob Essensa--in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on March 8.

He has lost four games since, including a 5-4 decision at Ottawa on Wednesday in which he faced only 15 shots.

Rookie Alexei Yashin completed a three-goal Senator comeback that brought victory in the Senators’ first game home since an 18-day trip in which they lost seven of eight games and were outscored, 44-11.

The Red Wings fell a point behind Toronto for first place in the NHL’s Western Conference by losing to the league’s worst team. It was only the 12th victory in 74 games for Ottawa, which dressed six new players and at one point had four of them on the ice at the same time.

Canadian Olympian Derek Mayer scored his first two NHL goals for the Senators.

Winnipeg 3, Montreal 1--Tim Cheveldae, for whom Essensa was traded, ended the Canadiens’ 11-game unbeaten streak, stopping 39 shots at Winnipeg.

Florida 1, Toronto 1--Stu Barnes scored a first-period goal at Hamilton, Canada, and the Panthers increased their lead over Philadelphia and the New York Islanders for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot to four points.

St. Louis 3, Buffalo 2--Curtis Joseph stopped 27 shots and Igor Korolev scored the game-winning goal for the Blues at Buffalo.

New York Rangers 5, Edmonton 3--Adam Graves set a club record with his 50th and 51st goals and Mike Richter made 28 saves for the Rangers at Edmonton.

Graves broke Vic Hadfield’s team record of 50 goals, set in the 1971-72 season.