Trick of the Trade Gets Bowman 1,000th Victory

If Scotty Bowman’s 1,000 NHL coaching victories don’t seem remarkable, consider this: He has won more games than all but seven of the league’s 26 franchises.

It took him three tries and Brendan Shanahan’s three goals to do it, but Bowman finally achieved his historic victory Saturday as the Detroit Red Wings rallied past Pittsburgh, 6-5, in overtime at Pittsburgh.

Detroit had lost twice since Bowman won No. 999 and was on the verge of another loss. Mario Lemieux had scored his 601st and 602nd career goals and Dave Roche also scored to put Pittsburgh ahead, 5-4.

But Darren McCarty sent it into overtime with his second goal, and Shanahan completed a hat trick for the win.

The usually stoic Bowman grabbed a couple of pieces of ice and munched them just before Shanahan scored, then, in the form of celebration, shook a couple of players’ hands en route to the locker room.

Buffalo 3, Tampa Bay 1--Workhorse Dominik Hasek stopped 31 shots to notch his NHL-best 27th victory and Matthew Barnaby had two goals and an assist to lead the Sabres at Tampa Bay.

Hasek, making his 50th appearance, was brilliant from the opening minute. He has started 30 of Buffalo’s last 33 games.

Toronto 4, Vancouver 2--Mats Sundin and Nathan Dempsey scored in the second period, staking the Maple Leafs to a four-goal lead at Toronto.

Kirk Muller and Tie Domi scored first-period goals for the Maple Leafs. Jyrki Lumme and Mike Ridley scored Vancouver’s goals in the third period.

New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 2--Valeri Zelepukin and Bobby Holik scored in a two-minute span early in a three-goal third period as the Devils rallied to defeat the Flyers at East Rutherford, N.J.

Steve Sullivan and John MacLean had the other Devil goals.

St. Louis 3, Boston 3--Jean Yves Roy scored with 1:12 left in regulation to give the Bruins the tie at Boston.

Roy, who has played most of the season on the Bruins’ Providence farm team, drilled a drive between Grant Fuhr’s pads for his third goal of the season.

Chicago 4, Colorado 2--Alexei Zhamnov had a goal and an assist and Jeff Hackett made 30 saves to lead the Blackhawks past the Avalanche at Denver.

Zhamnov scored in the second period to give Chicago a 2-1 lead it never relinquished.

New York Rangers 5, New York Islanders 2--Mark Messier got his 19th career hat trick and extended his point-scoring streak to 10 games in the game at Uniondale, N.Y.

Alexander Karpovtsev and Patrick Flatley also scored for the Rangers.

Travis Green and Kenny Jonsson scored for the Islanders.

Montreal 3, Hartford 2--Brian Savage’s 20th goal of the season 61 seconds into overtime lifted the Canadiens over the Whalers at Montreal.

Stephane Richer forced sudden death by scoring on a power play in the third period.

Third-period goals by Paul Ranheim and Geoff Sanderson had given Hartford a 2-1 lead.

Montreal’s Mark Recchi scored on a power play early in the second period and also set up Savage’s overtime winner.

San Jose 3, Ottawa 3-- Rookie left wing Stephen Guolla scored two third-period goals to lift the Sharks to a tie with the Senators at Kanata, Ontario.

Dallas 5, Phoenix 4--Pat Verbeek’s second goal of the game with 1:10 left in overtime gave the Stars the victory at Phoenix and spoiled a milestone for Coyote forward Mike Gartner.

Gartner had two second-period assists to become only the sixth player in NHL history to accumulate 600 assists.

Gartner, who has 685 goals in 18 seasons, joins Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux as the only other players in the 600 assist club.