Red Wings Lose Despite the Return of Bowman

The return of the NHL’s winningest coach didn’t help the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.

Scotty Bowman was back behind the bench for the first time since Detroit won its second consecutive Stanley Cup last June, but the Red Wings had their four-game winning streak snapped by Toronto, 5-3, at Detroit.

“It’s not like a player,” Bowman said. “A player can go out on the ice and do stuff. It’s not like you’re going to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”

It was the first time the Red Wings played with Bowman behind the bench since they swept the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals last season.

Since then, the 65-year-old coach had a blocked artery cleared and his left knee surgically replaced.

Sergei Berezin had two goals and one assist for the Maple Leafs, who handed Detroit its only other loss this season.

Brendan Shanahan scored for the Red Wings, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games.

Vancouver 5, Florida 0--Mark Messier scored his 600th goal and Todd Bertuzzi scored twice as the Canucks handed the Panthers their first loss.

Messier became the 10th player in league history to reach the 600-goal plateau when he scored at 12:58 of the third period.

The crowd of 18,070 at Sunrise, Fla., quiet after the goal, quickly recovered to give Messier a warm round of applause.

Washington 1, Buffalo 0--Olaf Kolzig made 30 saves for his second shutout and Jaroslav Svejkovsky scored in the third period at Buffalo.

The Capitals, who eliminated Buffalo from the playoffs last season with an overtime victory in Game 6, won another close game from the Sabres. Four of the six playoff games last season also were decided by one goal.

Calgary 4, Nashville 3--Cory Stillman’s goal with 7:22 remaining at Nashville enabled the Flames to snap their three-game losing streak.

The Flames had to kill off a two-man Nashville advantage that lasted 1:31 in the closing minutes. It was the Predators’ third five-on-three power play of the game.