If Memory Serves Them, Flyers Could Win Again

The Philadelphia Flyers should remember how they earned a season-ending 3-1 victory against the host Tampa Bay Lightning. They will have at least four more opportunities to repeat the performance.

Eric Lindros scored his 47th goal and added an assist as the Flyers defeated the Lightning, 3-1, Sunday in a preview of the upcoming first-round playoff matchup between the teams.

The victory, coupled with Pittsburgh’s loss, gave the Flyers (103 points) the top Eastern Conference playoff spot and a date with eighth-seeded Tampa Bay.

Florida 5, New York Rangers 1--Rob Niedermayer scored a goal and assisted on two others as the Panthers defeated the Rangers at Miami to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Scott Mellanby also had a goal and an assist and Jason Woolley had two assists for Florida, who head into the postseason after missing the playoffs by one point in the club’s two previous seasons of existence.

Boston 6, Pittsburgh 5--Mario Lemieux had a goal and four assists to win his fifth scoring title but the Bruins defeated Pittsburgh at Boston.

Pittsburgh finished second in the East with 102 points. They will host seventh-place Washington in the first round.

St. Louis 2, Chicago 2--Ed Belfour stopped 50 of the Blues’ shots but couldn’t keep Geoff Courtnall from scoring with 14:54 left in regulation as the Blues rallied for the tie at Chicago.

The Blues ended the regular season in a 1-7-4 skid and were 6-10-5 after trading for all-time NHL scoring leader Wayne Gretzky on Feb. 27.

Detroit 5, Dallas 1--The Red Wings wrapped up the most successful season in NHL history with the victory at Dallas.

Sergie Fedorov had a goal and two assists, Vyacheslav Kozlov scored twice and Paul Coffey had an assist.

Buffalo 4, Hartford 1--Derek Plante scored two goals to lift the Sabres to the victory in the final game at Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium. The Sabres are moving into $127 million Marine Midland Arena starting next season.

NHL Notes

Detroit right wing Dino Ciccarelli was suspended by the NHL for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars for punching Enrico Ciccone against Chicago on Friday.