Lacroix’s Late Goal Means No Late Start to Vacation

Surrounded by 16 Olympians bound for Japan, Eric Lacroix made sure he didn’t get a late start on his vacation to Mexico.

Lacroix’s wrist shot past Ron Hextall broke a third-period tie with 7:18 left, and the Colorado Avalanche took advantage of two disallowed goals for a 3-2 victory Saturday over the Philadelphia Flyers at Denver.

“They’re so excited they couldn’t wait for the overtime,” Olympian Peter Forsberg said of Lacroix and his vacationing teammates. “They had to get out of here so they could go to the Bahamas or wherever they’re going.”

Sandis Ozolinsh and Stephane Yelle also had goals for the Avalanche, who erased 2-0 deficit and won for the fifth time in six games heading into the 17-day Olympic break.

Philadelphia has lost five of six and is 1-6-1 against the NHL’s other top five teams--Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, New Jersey and Pittsburgh.

“It isn’t we aren’t getting a good effort. We got good efforts,” Flyer Coach Wayne Cashman said. “We lose here in a game we were probably up 4-1--somewhere in the world.”

Leading, 2-1, after the first period, Philadelphia had two goals disallowed within a 5:21 span of the second.

Chris Gratton’s goal 3:43 into the period was canceled because of an interference penalty on Trent Klatt, who tripped Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy as Gratton was shooting from the slot.

Rod Brind’Amour scored from the bottom of the right circle at 9:04, but Eric Lindros was in the crease.

Buffalo 4, Montreal 1--Dominik Hasek stopped 33 shots at Montreal as the Sabres extended their undefeated streak to nine games.

Jason Woolley, Mike Wilson, Brian Holzinger and Alexi Zhitnik each had goals for the Sabres, 5-0-4 in their last nine.

Tampa Bay 4, Washington 3--In an ominous send-off for the coach of the U.S. Olympic hockey team, Ron Wilson’s Capitals lost to a team that hadn’t won a game all year.

The Lightning, playing at Washington, got its first victory of 1998 and ended a franchise-record, 16-game winless streak.

Toronto 3, Florida 2--Derek King scored on a third-period penalty shot that broke a tie for the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

King, who was hauled down and taken into the boards by defenseman Robert Svehla on a breakaway, faked goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to the stick side and slid the puck between his legs at 7:09 of the period.

Dallas 3, Chicago 1--Pat Verbeek scored twice in a span of 1:23 in the second period and Roman Turek had 23 saves for the Stars at Dallas.

The Stars are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and the NHL’s leader with 80 points.

Turek, Dallas’ backup, has given up one goal or less in seven of his last eight games while improving his record to 9-

Carolina 3, Boston 1--Defenseman Keith Primeau, who will play for the Canadian Olympic team, scored his first goal in 10 games, breaking a tie with 4:59 left for the Hurricanes at Boston.

Primeau, who will team with Boston’s Ray Bourque for Canada, got the game-winner on a slap shot to the right of goalie Byron Dafoe, playing his 16th consecutive game.

New Jersey 3, New York Islanders 2--Martin Brodeur allowed a goal for the first time in three games, but made 32 saves at Uniondale, N.Y. as the Devils defeated the Islanders for the fourth time in as many games.

Two of the four players the Islanders acquired Friday--Mark Janssens and Joe Sacco--made it in time for the game. J.J. Daigneault and Trevor Linden will make their Islander debuts after the Olympic break.

St. Louis 4, Detroit 1--Pierre Turgeon and Steve Duchesne scored in a 19-second span of the second period as the Blues improved their record at Kiel Center in St. Louis to 18-8-5.

Grant Fuhr made 21 saves for the Blues, who are 2-1-1 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. Brett Hull had an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left.

Pittsburgh 2, Ottawa 2--Andreas Dackell scored at 15:46 of the third period to give the Senators a tie at Kanata, Ontario.

Rob Brown had put Pittsburgh ahead, 2-1, at 8:06 of the third period with his eighth goal of the season.

New York Rangers 1, Phoenix 1--Brian Leetch scored a power-play goal at 8:54 of the second period to lift the Rangers to a tie at Phoenix.

Dallas Drake scored for the Coyotes, who are winless in their last three games overall and have lost three of their last four at home (1-3-0).

Calgary 4, Edmonton 2--Newest Flame Valeri Bure broke a 27-game goal-less drought in a big way, scoring three goals at Calgary, Alberta.

After scoring two goals earlier in the game, Bure completed his first-ever hat trick with an empty-net goal with 18.7 seconds left in the third period.

Vancouver 6, San Jose 3--Dave Scatchard recorded his first career two-goal game and newly acquired linemate Todd Bertuzzi added a goal and an assist at Vancouver, leading the Canucks to their fourth victory in five games.

Scatchard also had an assist as his line--with Bertuzzi and Brian Noonan--combined for six points.