Avalanche’s Winning Streak Goes Up in Flames

Colorado’s franchise-record 12-game winning streak ended Tuesday night as Theo Fleury and Andrei Nazarov scored goals to lift the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 victory over the Avalanche at Denver.

Ken Wregget, who had been sidelined because of a back injury since Nov. 3, made 28 saves to help the Flames hand Colorado its first loss since a 3-2 defeat at Detroit on Jan. 9.

Stephane Yelle scored for Colorado.

The Avalanche, coming off an impressive four-game trip, fell five games shy of the NHL record held by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won 17 straight during the 1992-93 season.

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 2--Alexei Kovalev scored with 29 seconds left in overtime and the Penguins gained their seventh consecutive win over the Canadiens at Pittsburgh.

The Canadiens had a 2-1 lead before Kip Miller tied the score late in the third period. Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr added a goal and an assist, giving the two-time NHL scoring champion 18 points in his last seven games and a league-high 77 for the season.

Detroit 5, Nashville 2--Brendan Shanahan keyed a four-goal second period with a goal and an assist as the Red Wings won easily at Nashville.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who had been 1-3-1 over their previous five games.

Vancouver 4, New Jersey 3--Todd Bertuzzi scored on a spectacular spinning backhander with 8:36 left and the Canucks added to the Devils’ woes at East Rutherford, N.J.

An apparent game-tying goal by Jason Arnott was scored a fraction of a second after the final buzzer. The green light came on and referee Stephen Walkom waved off the goal after consulting with replay officials.

The Canucks broke a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) and extended the Devils’ winless streak at home to four games (0-3-1).

Buffalo 1, Ottawa 1--Wayne Primeau scored 2:14 into the third period as the Sabres salvaged a tie with the Senators at Kanata, Canada.

The Senators, who gained sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division, have lost only two of their last 20 games (13-2-5).Ottawa captain Alexei Yashin scored his 23rd goal at 6:55 of the second period.

Washington 2, N.Y. Islanders 1--Olaf Kolzig stopped 21 shots and Adam Oates and Peter Bondra each scored as the Capitals won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Zigmund Palffy scored for the Islanders with 47 seconds left, but Kolzig stopped three shots during one flurry to preserve the win.

Boston 2, Edmonton 0--Byron Dafoe made 31 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and the Bruins got third-period goals from P.J. Axelsson and Anson Carter to win at Edmonton, Canada.

NHL Notes

The Pittsburgh Penguins officially began the search for different ownership when co-owner Roger Marino withdrew his request to be solely permitted to reorganize the team’s finances. The only prospective buyer to identify himself is none other than Mario Lemieux, the greatest player in Penguin history who is owed $26.2 million in deferred salary by the current ownership.