Flyers Missing More Than Lindros Against Bruins

Life without Eric Lindros proved to be an insurmountable task for the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday afternoon.

Shawn Bates scored two goals and Byron Dafoe got his ninth shutout as the Boston Bruins defeated Philadelphia, 3-0, at Boston to move into a tie with the Buffalo Sabres for the seventh spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

It was the first game for the Flyers without their captain and leading scorer, who probably is out for the season because of a collapsed lung.

Philadelphia was also missing second leading scorer John LeClair who has an injured back, Mark Recchi who has post-concussion syndrome and Eric Desjardins, out because of a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.

“It’s tough for any team if you take away the team’s top scorers,” Flyer Coach Roger Neilson said.

Lindros’s lung is expanding again and most of the fluid has drained from his chest cavity, one day after doctors began treating the Philadelphia Flyers star. He will probably be moved from intensive care to a regular room today, team physician Gary Dorshimer said.

St. Louis 5, Dallas 2--Pavol Demitra had two goals and two assists to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

Demitra scored the winning goal at 6:14 of the third period on a shot from in front of the net and added his 36th midway through the period..

Brett Hull, who was making his first visit to St. Louis since signing with Dallas as a free agent, scored the Stars’ first goal.

New Jersey 4, Pittsburgh 2--Dave Andreychuk scored twice at Pittsburgh as the Devils stretched their unbeaten streak to six games.

The Penguins are winless in six games, which matches their longest streak of the season.

Ottawa 6, Florida 4--Alexei Yashin scored two goals in the first period and added two assists to lead the Senators at Sunrise, Fla.

Andreas Dackell added three assists and a goal to help Ottawa win its fifth consecutive road game and move four points ahead of New Jersey for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto 5, Calgary 1--Mats Sundin and Sergei Berezin each scored twice as the Maple Leafs extended their unbeaten streak to five games at Calgary, Canada.

Tampa Bay 4, Washington 3--Stephane Richer and Rob Zamuner scored third-period goals 37 seconds apart and Kevin Hodson made 31 saves at Tampa, Fla. in Jacques Demers’ 1,000th game as a coach.

Montreal 2, Buffalo 1--Backup goaltender Fred Chabot made 31 saves for his first win of the season for the Canadiens at Montreal.

Chicago 2, Carolina 1--Bob Probert scored from the edge of the crease with 4:30 remaining in the third period to lift the Blackhawks at Chicago.

Colorado 5, Edmonton 2--Joe Sakic had a goal and two assists and Theo Fleury added four assists for the Avalanche at Denver.

San Jose 5, Vancouver 2--Vincent Damphousse scored three goals as the Sharks defeated the Canucks for the second time in two nights at San Jose.

Around the League

The St. Louis Blues have added a year to the contracts of general manager Larry Pleau and assistant general manager John Ferguson.

Team president Mark Sauer said Saturday that both contracts had been extended through the 2001-2002 season.