Rangers Tied To Record Book

No team in NHL history had started a season with four ties.

Until Thursday.

The New York Rangers, collecting points if not satisfaction, played to a 1-1 tie with the Flames at Calgary behind goalie Jason Muzzatti, who made 27 saves.

Muzzatti, a former Calgary player making his first appearance for the Rangers, was especially sharp in the waning moments of the third period. Calgary pressed but failed to capitalize on a four-minute power-play opportunity when Alexei Kovalev received a double-minor for high-sticking at 17:19.

Calgary had another power-play chance in overtime but again failed to score, finishing the game zero for 11 with the man advantage.

The Flames are now zero for 26 in that category this season.

Pat LaFontaine provided the offense for New York, scoring his fourth goal as the Rangers extended their winless streak in Calgary to 12 games (0-8-4) since last winning here Jan. 14, 1987.

Cory Stillman scored for the Flames (0-3-1), who completed a season-opening four-game homestand without a victory.

Buffalo 5, Washington 2--Jason Dawe scored twice at Buffalo to help the Sabres hand the Capitals their first loss.

Washington, under former Mighty Duck Coach Ron Wilson, had won its first four games, matching the Capitals’ 1991-92 start, the best in franchise history.

Dawe scored Buffalo’s first power-play goal this season, after 19 failures, when he broke a 1-1 tie in the second period. He then scored the game-winner 57 seconds into the third period.

Attendance was announced at 10,116, the smallest crowd in 43 regular-season games at Marine Midland Arena. The actual attendance was about 7,000 as fans showed their displeasure with the organization for its handling of off-ice problems over the summer.

Tampa Bay 4, Chicago 1--Home cooking wasn’t the answer for the winless Blackhawks.

Daymond Langkow scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period at Chicago, where the fans booed the Blackhawks.

Though Chicago has scored first in each of its games, the team is off to only its second 0-3 start since 1970.

The Blackhawks continue to struggle at the United Center, where they went 16-21-4 last season for their first losing home record in 39 years.

Colorado 3, San Jose 2--Joe Sakic and Valeri Kamensky had two goals and two assists each at Denver as the Avalanche (4-0-1) remained unbeaten.

Patrick Roy made 29 saves for Colorado, a winner over San Jose goaltender Mike Vernon for the first time since Vernon shut down the Avalanche in the Western Conference finals while with Detroit.

Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 1--Chris Joseph scored with 8:03 left in the third period at Philadelphia to end the Flyers’ two-game losing streak.

Shjon Podein and Eric Lindros also scored for Philadelphia, sending the Penguins to their third consecutive defeat and seventh consecutive loss in Philadelphia dating to the 1993-94 season.

Vancouver 2, Toronto 2--Sergei Berezin scored his second goal of the game with 2:26 remaining to help the Maple Leafs salvage a tie at Vancouver.

NHL Notes

Defenseman Derian Hatcher ended his holdout by signing a two-year deal with the Dallas Stars. . . . Vancouver re-signed restricted free-agent defenseman Bret Hedican.