Hasek Has Another Shutout

“He’s the best player in the game right now,” said Wayne Gretzky after Dominik Hasek and the Buffalo Sabres stopped Gretzky and the New York Rangers, 1-0, Monday night at New York for his second shutout in two days.

Hasek, who blanked Washington, 3-0, Sunday, recorded his NHL-leading ninth shutout in carrying over his great work from the Olympics, when he led the Czech Republic to the gold medal.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins honored Martin Straka, Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang and Jiri Slegr for helping the Czech Republic win the gold, and Alexei Morozov and Darius Kasparaitis, from Russia, were honored for helping their team win a silver medal. Then Straka, Jagr and Morozov all figured in the scoring as the Penguins beat the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1. . . . Sergei Fedorov, in his second game after a long holdout, scored his first goal of the season as the Detroit Red Wings beat the host Phoenix Coyotes, 3-1. . . . Steve Thomas’ nudged the puck between goalie Ron Hextall’s pads after he had come out to cut down on the shooting angle and the New Jersey Devils beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, at East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Scott Fraser scored 11 seconds into overtime at Denver as the Edmonton Oilers ended a 13-game winless streak against the Colorado Avalance with a 5-4 victory. . . . Gary Roberts scored two goals as the Carolina Panthers recorded a 3-1 victory at San Jose.