Lightning Finally Wins One

Darcy Tucker scored twice and 1998 No. 1 overall draft pick Vincent Lecavalier recorded his first NHL point as the Tampa Bay Lightning ended a 15-game winless streak with a 5-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night at Tampa.

Goaltender Daren Puppa stopped 28 shots in recording his 18th career shutout and first since March 26, 1996.

“We have the music on in the room. I hope the guys realize how good it feels to win,” Tampa Bay Coach Jacques Demers said.

The Lightning (1-4-1) had not won a game since beating the New York Rangers, 3-1, March 30 at Madison Square Garden.

Tampa Bay also stopped a franchise record-tying 10-game winless streak at home, dating back to a 5-1 victory over Florida on March 21.

Detroit 5, Nashville 2--Darren McCarty and Doug Brown each scored two goals as the Red Wings overcame a solid performance by Predator goalie Mike Dunham at Detroit.

It was Detroit’s last game before the return of Coach Scotty Bowman, who has been recovering from an angioplasty and knee replacement surgery.

Bowman, who was cleared to return by his doctors on Monday, will conduct practice today and be back behind the bench Friday night when the Red Wings play host to Toronto.

The game was close for 2 1/2 periods only because of Dunham, who faced 57 shots, including 27 in the second period.

Montreal 3, Ottawa 2--Brian Savage, playing his first game of the season after agreeing to a contract Tuesday, scored the winning goal at Montreal.

Savage, who signed a two-year, $3.5-million deal, scored on a two-on-one break with Mark Recchi after Senators defenseman Stan Neckar lost control of the puck.

Vancouver 2, Washington 1--Garth Snow made 34 saves and Adrian Aucoin had a goal and an assist at Washington to help the Canucks beat the Capitals for the first time in nearly six years.

Vancouver last beat Washington on Oct. 28, 1992. Since that victory, the Canucks were 0-7-1 against the Capitals and Washington outscored them, 34-14.

Edmonton 4, New York Islanders 2--Boyd Devereaux scored twice to help the Oilers win before a crowd of approximately 3,000 at Uniondale, N.Y.

Pat Falloon and Bill Guerin also scored for the Oilers, who won four of five games on their first road trip of the season.