Pittsburgh Finally Lucky on the Road

Call it Lucky 13. The Pittsburgh Penguins finally got a road kill. And they broke the jinx against an unlikely opponent in normally hostile territory.

The Penguins, who had earned the title of the NHL’s only winless road team after coming up short in their first 12 away games (0-11-1), ended that streak with a 7-1 victory over the Whalers at Hartford, Conn., on Friday night.

“It gets the monkey off our back. We wasted a lot of good efforts on the road, with nothing to show for it,” said Pittsburgh Coach Ed Johnston. “If we are going to catch anybody, we have to get wins on the road. Tonight is the start of something.”

It also marked the end of a five-game unbeaten streak for Hartford, which failed to strengthen its grip on its lead in the Northeast Division against a team that remains at the bottom of the standings.

The Penguins held a 2-0 lead after two periods on goals by Petr Nedved and Fredrik Olausson. Then Jaromir Jagr sparked a third-period surge with two consecutive goals.

Colorado 3, New York Islanders 2--Valeri Kamensky scored two goals and NHL scoring co-leaders Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic had an assist each as the Avalanche defeated the Islanders at Denver.

Kamensky scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season for the Avalanche, 11-1-3 over their last 15 games. The assists by Forsberg and Sakic gave them 35 points apiece.

Washington 5, New Jersey 1--Chris Simon scored a pair of power-play goals and Olaf Kolzig made 38 saves as the Capitals broke a 10-game winless streak against the Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Capitals had gone 0-9-1 against the Devils in their 10 previous meetings. The Capitals also registered their first-ever victory against goaltender Martin Brodeur (1-11-1).

Florida 2, Dallas 1--Jody Hull’s short-handed goal with 4.8 left in overtime lifted the Panthers to victory over the Stars at Dallas.

The Stars went on a power play with 1:03 left in overtime, but Bill Lindsay picked up a loose puck and skated in on Star goaltender Andy Moog. Moog came out to stop Lindsay’s shot. But the puck bounced to Hull, who was 25 feet away, and he scored his third goal of the season.

Chicago 5, Calgary 2--The Blackhawks scored three times in a 4:40 span of the third period, with Sergei Krivokrasov getting the winner, to come from behind for the victory at Calgary.

Tony Amonte had two goals and Eric Daze and Ethan Moreau also scored for the Blackhawks. German Titov scored both goals for the Flames.