Lindros Strong in Return

After missing 18 games because of a concussion, Philadelphia Flyer captain Eric Lindros looked strong from the start Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres.

Unfortunately for Lindros, it wasn’t enough to offset the play of Sabre goaltender Dominik Hasek.

Lindros was on the ice for 24 shifts, recording four shots on Hasek, who stopped them all in the Sabres’ 2-1 victory at Buffalo, N.Y.

Lindros was a physical presence early, slamming Mike Wilson into the corner boards with solid check on his fourth shift.

“I’m feeling real good and I’m sure things are going to come,” he said.

Lindros’ return to the ice was what he had been waiting for since suffering a concussion March 7 after a hit by Darius Kasparaitis of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lindros received one minor penalty. He had no shots in 5:58 of play in the third period.

“I was killing penalties for a good part of [the third period],” Lindros said. “I wasn’t tired at all, especially the way the flow of the game was going.

“I felt fine, I felt great.”

Said Flyer Coach Roger Nielson: “He was hitting and looked like the Eric of old. I thought he played very well.”

Ottawa 3, Tampa Bay 2--Chris Phillips scored a tie-breaking power-play goal with 4:03 left at Tampa, Fla., as the Senators closed in on a playoff berth.

The Senators improved their lead to five points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Each team has three games left in the regular season.

Boston 3, Carolina 2--Boston’s Anson Carter had a goal and an assist at Greensboro, N.C., as the Bruins enhanced their bid for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Carter’s goal with 16 seconds left in the second period represented another blow to the Hurricanes’ fading playoff hopes.

Boston remained one point behind Buffalo in the battle for the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Washington 2, N.Y. Islanders 0--Olaf Kolzig stopped 35 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and Brian Bellows and Andre Nikolishin scored as the Capitals won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Kolzig, who faced only four shots in the first period, made his best save of the game seven minutes into the final period when he got his right pad on Claude Lapointe’s one-timer.