Belfour the Brightest Star as Dallas Defeats Calgary

Ed Belfour stopped 20 shots and Pat Verbeek had a goal and an assist Friday night as the Dallas Stars defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, at Dallas for their seventh consecutive victory.

Belfour (16-4-4) continued his strong work as the Stars improved to 10-1-0 in their last 11 games. With a 20-7-4 record for 44 points, the Stars top the NHL.

“I’m feeling comfortable and stronger all the time,” Belfour said.

Michael Nylander ended Belfour’s bid for his club-record seventh shutout with 11:34 left, Nylander’s ninth goal.

Jamie Langenbrunner, Bob Bassen, Tony Hrkac and Verbeek provided the goals for the Stars. Hrkac, called up from Michigan of the International Hockey League to replace Modano, notched a third-period power-play goal to extend Dallas’ lead to 3-0. Hrkac hadn’t scored an NHL goal since March 4, 1994 for the St. Louis Blues.

Buffalo 4, Tampa Bay 0--Dominik Hasek made 38 saves for his consecutive shutout, and the Sabres got goals from three defensemen at Buffalo, N.Y.

Hasek recorded back-to-back shutouts for the third time in his career and the first time since November 1996. He has 23 career shutouts, including three this season.

Washington 3, Florida 2--Jeff Toms, acquired two weeks ago from Tampa Bay off the waiver wire, scored 3:32 into overtime to give the Capitals a victory at Washington in the first NHL game at the $200 million MCI Center.

Toms’ wrist shot from the left circle bounced off goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck’s shoulder and fluttered into the net to salvage what had been a low-key opening night.

The Capitals won for only the third time in eight games, while the Panthers have won just two of nine. It was also the first road loss in six games for Florida.

New York Rangers 2, Philadelphia 2--Brian Leetch scored a pair of power-play goals to cap a three-goal comeback by the Rangers and salvage a tie with the Flyers at New York.

John LeClair had scored his 21st and 22nd goals to help the Flyers take a 4-1 lead in the second period. But the Rangers came back on a goal by Brian Skrudland and the two by Leetch, who capped the rally at 3:07 of the third period.

Phoenix 2, Carolina 2--Cliff Ronning’s second goal in his last 20 games midway through the second period gave the injury-plagued Coyotes a tie with the Hurricanes at Greensboro, N.C.

Steve Leach’s apparent game-winning breakaway goal for the Hurricanes with 4:09 left in regulation was waved off when teammate Robert Kron was penalized for dragging down Teppo Numminen, who was chasing Leach.

Edmonton 3, Detroit 1--At Edmonton, goaltender Bob Essensa earned his first victory of the season and the Oilers stopped the Red Wings’ six-game undefeated streak. Essensa made 27 saves and won for the first time since defeating Washington 10 months ago. The Oilers halted a two-game losing streak and defeated Detroit for the first time at home since since March 5, 1995.

Mats Lindgren, rookie Joe Hulbig and Kelly Buchberger scored for Edmonton.

Notes

Dallas is without top scorer Mike Modano, lost for four to six weeks with a torn knee ligament suffered on a check by Edmonton’s Bryan Marchment in a game on Wednesday night. The NHL announced that Marchment has been suspended for three games and fined $1,000 for the hit that earned Marchment a game misconduct.