Flyers Rally to End Winless Streak at 12

The Philadelphia Flyers’ winless streak looked well on its way to 13 when Detroit’s Kris Draper scored early in the third period Sunday in Philadelphia. But the Flyers, playing without top defenseman Eric Desjardins for the last eight minutes after he suffered a knee injury, rallied to defeat the Red Wings, 5-4, with Eric Lindros scoring the game-deciding goal with 1:53 left.

Lindros took a pass in front of the net from linemate John LeClair and fired the puck past Detroit goalie Chris Osgood to end the Flyers’ franchise-record winless streak at 0-8-4.

“To finally get a win here, you know it’s rewarding after a tough game and especially the last month,” said Lindros, who is tied for second in the NHL in goals with 39. “It’s just one game, we’ve got to keep going, but certainly right now it feels like a little weight is off.”

Mark Recchi started the Flyers’ comeback from a 4-2 deficit with a goal through Osgood’s legs, then assisted on Mikael Renberg’s tying goal with 7:56 left.

“Everybody stayed positive tonight as we have through this whole ordeal,” said LeClair, who was playing his first game since being sidelined the previous four with a hipinjury. “When Recchi scored that goal, you could see the bench jump. Then, when Renberg scored the game came alive.”

Flyer Coach Roger Neilson was serving the first of a two-game suspension for a stick-throwing incident last week.

Dallas 3, Carolina 2--Mike Modano scored two goals at Dallas, including the winner 44 seconds into overtime, as the Stars ended a winless streak at four games.

Modano, who also scored a short-handed goal in the third period, took a cross-ice pass from Sergei Zubov and wristed the puck over Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe for his 32nd goal of the season..

Chicago 4, Colorado 3--Dean McAmmond, acquired a day earlier from Edmonton, scored a goal and had an assist to lead the Blackhawks at Chicago.

Joe Sakic had a chance to tie the game for Colorado late in the third period. With just under four minutes left, his shot went off goalie Jocelyn Thibault’s chest, hit the post and was then gloved by a diving Thibault just as it appeared it was going to go into the net. The goal was reviewed and the replay official ruled the puck had not crossed the goal line.

Pittsburgh 2, New York Rangers 2--Ranger goalie Mike Richter made 30 saves, including a spectacular stop against Jaromir Jagr in overtime at New York.

Calgary 2, New York Islanders 1--Valeri Bure scored both Flame goals at Calgary to give them sole possession of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Calgary leads Edmonton by two points and plays the Oilers tonight.

Boston 4, Washington 1--Joe Thornton and Grant Ledyard scored in the game’s first six minutes at Washington as the Bruins moved five points ahead of their nearest competitor for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Washington is nine points behind Boston.

Around the League

The Dallas Stars reacquired forward Benoit Hogue, who played with the Stars before signing with Tampa Bay as a free agent in the off-season, and got a conditional draft pick in 2001 from the Lightning in exchange for defenseman Sergey Gusev. . . . Wayne Gretzky has told reporters he could be back with the New York Rangers as early as this weekend.