Red Wings Finally Prevail at Home

Vyacheslav Kozlov scored 80 seconds into overtime Sunday night and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars, 4-3, to end a six-game home winless streak.

“We didn’t give the fans much in January,” Detroit Coach Scotty Bowman said after his team’s first home victory since Dec. 26. “There hasn’t been much to cheer about, so we owed them something.”

Kozlov’s 17th goal--and fifth game-winning shot--came after Dallas defenseman Sergei Zubov couldn’t control a bouncing puck played high into the Stars’ end by Detroit’s Tomas Sandstrom.

Kozlov dug out the loose puck and backhanded it past Dallas goalie Andy Moog. Sandstrom’s assist was his first point in three games since Detroit acquired him last week in a trade with Pittsburgh.

“I scored yesterday and today, and those were like Christmas presents for me,” Kozlov said. “That gives me confidence. Scoring the overtime goal, I think it will really help in the future.”

Steve Yzerman, Brendan Shanahan and Martin Lapointe also scored for Detroit. The Red Wings were 0-4-2 at home since Sergei Fedorov scored five goals Dec. 26 in a 5-4 overtime victory over Washington.

“It looks like Detroit has settled into the type of game it’s going to play in the playoffs,” Dallas Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “When they play well defensively, they’re such a good team and it’s difficult to beat them.”

Boston 3, New York Rangers 2--The Bruins scored three goals in less than four minutes of the first period and held on behind the goaltending of rookie Rob Tallas at New York.

Tallas, one night after recording his first NHL shutout at Tampa Bay, protected a one-goal lead for virtually half the game after Mark Messier scored at 11:19 of the second period.

In the third period, Tallas, who had 28 saves, stopped Vladimir Vorobiev on a breakaway with 11:44 left and then Niklas Sundstrom on another breakaway 30 seconds later.

Tallas has started 14 of the Bruins’ last 15 games, relieving No. 1 goaltender Bill Ranford, sidelined because of tendinitis in his shoulder.

Buffalo 2, Washington 2--Michal Grosek scored with 4:31 left in the third period and Dominik Hasek made 27 saves, giving the Sabres a tie at Buffalo. The Sabres finished their club-record seven-game homestand with a 4-2-1 record.