Shanahan’s Hat Trick Cures Red Wing Ills
Brendan Shanahan is feeling good and making his opponents pay.
Shanahan scored two of his three goals within a 55-second span of the second period as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 7-2, Friday night at Phoenix.
“It’s nice to get rewarded for the way I’m feeling health-wise,” said Shanahan, who recorded his 12th career hat trick.
Steve Yzerman had a goal and an assist and Slava Kozlov, Matthew Dandenault and Tomas Holmstrom also scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a four-game winless streak and beat the Coyotes for the first time in three games this season.
Chris Osgood made 36 saves for Detroit, which opened an eight-point lead over the idle St. Louis Blues in the Central Division despite playing without Sergei Fedorov.
Fedorov was serving the first of a five-game suspension for slashing Zdeno Chara during the Red Wings’ 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders last Saturday.
Buffalo 2, Dallas 1--Rookie goaltender Martin Biron recorded his first NHL victory and Michael Peca scored the winning goal on a power play at Buffalo.
Making only his third start and first since 1995, the 21-year-old Biron made 26 saves in his second complete NHL game and sixth appearance in the league.
Boston 4, New Jersey 1--Joe Thornton capped a three-goal first period by setting up two scores within 52 seconds at Boston and the Bruins ended a 10-game winless streak against the Devils with a 4-1 victory on Friday night.
Boston beat New Jersey for the first time since Oct. 29, 1996. The Devils were 7-0-3 during that span.
Calgary 5, Vancouver 1--Cory Stillman, attempting to fill the role of departed leader Theoren Fleury, scored twice at Vancouver to keep the Flames’ playoff hopes alive.
The victory moved the Flames--2-2-2 in their last six games--to within four points of idle San Jose, which is in the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.
Pittsburgh 2, Edmonton 2--Robert Lang ended a 21-game goal drought midway through the third period to help the Penguins salvage a tie at Pittsburgh.
Goalie Bob Essensa stopped 34 shots as the Oilers improved their unbeaten streak to 3-0-2.