Stars Lose Game to Predators, Hull to Injury

The expansion Nashville Predators wanted a rematch with the Dallas Stars after blowing a two-goal, third-period lead on Tuesday night.

They got another shot at the Stars 24 hours later, and the Predators paid back Western Conference-leading Dallas on their home ice.

Sergei Krivokrasov’s goal with 28.6 seconds to play lifted the Predators to a 2-1 victory on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday night, the Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period for a 4-3 victory at Nashville.

But with Wednesday night’s score tied at 1, Krivokrasov skated up the right side, stopped and faked defenseman Derian Hatcher to the ice, then beat Star goaltender Roman Turek on a backhander for his 19th goal.

The defeat was a costly one for the Stars. The team’s top scoring forward, Brett Hull, will be out at least two weeks because of a strained hamstring suffered when his skate hit a rut in the ice early in the third period.

Chicago 3, St. Louis 1--Doug Gilmour scored twice and goalie Mark Fitzpatrick gained his first win since Nov. 17 as the Blackhawks made the coaching debut of Lorne Molleken a success at St. Louis.

Molleken took over the team Monday on an interim basis after the Blackhawks fired Dirk Graham. He achieved something in his first game that the Blackhawks had done only six times previously--a win on the road. The Blackhawks are only 7-21-4 away from the United Center.

Phoenix 2, Washington 1--Rick Tocchet and Keith Tkachuk scored first-period goals at Washington, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 19 saves as the Coyotes ended a five-game losing streak.

Florida 5, Philadelphia 3--Mark Parrish jammed the puck underneath John Vanbiesbrouck for a power-play goal at 11:32 of the third period as the Panthers celebrated the return of Pavel Bure at Sunrise, Fla.

Bure failed to score in his first game back after missing eight games because of injuries.

Toronto 2, Carolina 2--Alyn McCauley returned to the Maple Leaf lineup after a 22-game absence and scored the tying goal with 5:05 remaining at Toronto.

McCauley picked up a loose puck in the slot and one-timed a blast past Arturs Irbe.

It was his first game since he suffered a sprained knee on Dec. 30.

Buffalo 2, Calgary 2--Defenseman Jason Woolley assisted on the first goal and scored late in the third as the Sabres gained a tie at Calgary, Canada.

Vancouver 1, San Jose 1--Alex Korolyuk’s power-play goal with 3:26 left in the second period gave the Sharks a tie at San Jose. The Sharks moved two points ahead of Edmonton for seventh place in the Western Conference.