Primeau Jump-Starts Whalers in Victory

Keith Primeau scored only 34 seconds into the third period, then added another quick goal for the Hartford Whalers, who scored five times in the third period to beat Florida, 5-2, in Hartford, Conn.

It was the first time since the Stanley Cup finals that the Panthers have lost successive games.

Primeau’s first goal came when he pushed the rebound of Nelson Emerson’s shot past Panther goalie Mark Fitzpatrick, cutting Florida’s lead to 2-1.

“That was very key,” Primeau said. “We didn’t expect to score that quickly, but it was definitely good for momentum. We were looking to score in the first five minutes and make it a hockey game, and scoring that quickly definitely made it a game.”

With the game tied after Primeau’s ninth and 10th goals of the season, Gerald Diduck got the decisive score by beating Fitzpatrick from the right point at 6:32.

The goal was the first this season for Diduck, who also assisted on Primeau’s first goal.

Paul Coffey and Steven Rice also scored, and goalie Jason Muzzatti stopped 28 shots as the Northeast Division-leading Whalers extended their season-high unbeaten string to six games (4-0-2). The Whalers have outscored their opponents, 16-1, in the third period during the unbeaten streak.

The Atlantic Division-leading Panthers, the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference, gave up five goals for the second consecutive night.

Colorado 6, Vancouver 1--Scott Young, Joe Sakic, Valeri Kamensky, Sandis Ozolinsh, Keith Jones and Adam Deadmarsh scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who improved the Western Conference’s best record to 18-8-4 after losing two games in a row.

The Avalanche have outscored Vancouver, 19-4, in three victories this season.

The slumping Canucks (14-13-1) played without seven regulars sidelined because of injury or illness.

St. Louis 5, Dallas 5--Joe Nieuwendyk scored the tying goal for the Stars with 7:31 to play, capping a comeback from a 4-0 first-period deficit.

Dallas outshot the Blues, 30-11, in the last two periods, 18-2 in the second alone.

Pierre Turgeon’s rebound goal with 17:17 to play in regulation gave St. Louis a 5-4 lead, but Nieuwendyk fired a backhander from in front of the net past Grant Fuhr to tie the game.

Washington 3, San Jose 2--Tony Granato’s short-handed goal early in the third period gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead and they rode it out in San Jose.

It was the fourth game in a row in which the Sharks had scored a short-handed goal, and they lead the NHL with seven this season.

Washington’s Todd Krygier scored at 4:57 of the third period to make the score 3-2.

San Jose has won three of its last four games, and Washington has lost four in a row.

New York Islanders 5, New York Rangers 3--Islander goalie Tommy Salo turned back a five-on-three power play by the league’s top power-play team to key a victory in New York.

The Islanders were down, 1-0, after being outshot, 15-7, in the first period, and Salo’s one-minute 40-second effort--in which he made six saves--was the key. Bryan Berard, Niclas Andersson, Bryan Smolinski and Zigmund Palffy scored goals for the Islanders in the second period to end the Rangers’ unbeaten streak at seven (6-0-1).

The Rangers dropped to 1-8-4 in the Atlantic Division.

Buffalo 3, Montreal 2--Dominik Hasek made 43 saves and Dixon Ward scored at 2:42 of overtime for the Sabres, who ended a three-game winless streak with a victory in Montreal.

Ward scored off a pass from Randy Burridge and beat Jocelyn Thibault for his fourth goal.