Bruins Utilize Fast Start to End Road Losing Streak

It wasn’t bad enough that the Boston Bruins came into their game against the Detroit Red Wings with an eight-game road losing streak. They didn’t even arrive in Detroit until 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.

No matter. The Bruins ended their road woes with a 5-4 victory.

“There was some engine trouble with the plane, so with that situation we don’t really mind getting in too late,” said newly acquired Bill Guerin, who scored for the second time in as many games. “We’ll suck it up. You’ve got to overcome some adversity sometimes.”

The Red Wings were the ones experiencing adversity only 42 seconds into the game when their former teammate, Mike Knuble, beat Chris Osgood with a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

“It felt good to get a quick start on the first shift and we got a break up the ice and just tried to get it on goal,” Knuble said. “I shot it as hard as I could, and it’s always nice to get off to a good start. I haven’t had a goal in a while and my line hasn’t chipped in in a while so it felt good.”

The Bruins felt even better 33 seconds later when Dixon Ward made the score 2-0, scoring into the open right side of the net on a two-on-one with Brian Rolston.

Sergei Samsonov skated around defenseman Aaron Ward and beat Osgood with a backhand shot at 4:59, giving Boston a 3-0 lead.

“I thought we played well right off the bat,” Guerin said. “I think we took advantage of our shooting situations and made our opportunities count. I think we were just ready to play tonight.”

The Red Wings had plenty of opportunities in the first period but the Bruins killed off two five-on-three power plays.

“The early goals really helped us set them back on their heels,” Bruin Coach Mike Keenan said. “After we got the three goals, they were really coming at us hard.”

San Jose 4, Chicago 1--Vincent Damphousse scored a go-ahead power-play goal early in the third period and also had two assists for the Sharks at San Jose.

Owen Nolan scored two goals as the Sharks remained unbeaten in seven consecutive home games (6-0-1). They haven’t lost at San Jose Arena since opening night.

The Sharks won for the 11th time in 15 games, improving on the best start in franchise history and moving into a tie with the Phoenix Coyotes atop the Pacific Division.

New York Rangers 4, New York Islanders 3--Theo Fleury scored a power-play goal with 34.2 seconds to play in overtime at Uniondale, N.Y.

Fleury, with his 16th goal, surpassed his total from last season--his first with the Rangers and worst of his NHL career.

He banged home the rebound of Valeri Kamensky’s shot to give the Rangers their second overtime victory in three games.

Tampa Bay 8, Atlanta 2--Pavel Kubina had a goal and four assists and Brad Richards scored two goals at Tampa, Fla., to help the Lightning set a franchise record for goals.

Carolina 3, Pittsburgh 1--Arturs Irbe stopped 34 shots and the Hurricanes scored two opportunistic goals, Rob DiMaio and Rod Brind’Amour turning Penguin turnovers into goals at Pittsburgh.

Dallas 1, Nashville 0--Ed Belfour stopped 24 shots for his fourth shutout this month and Brenden Morrow scored in a 1-0 game for the second time in a week to lift the Stars at Nashville.

Toronto 4, Edmonton 3--Bryan McCabe scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal in the third period at Toronto.

Washington 3, Vancouver 2--Andrei Nikolishin ended the Canucks’ four-game winning streak by scoring with 42.8 seconds to play in overtime at Washington.

Nikolishin took a pass from Sergei Gonchar and fired a wrist shot from the left circle that hit Vancouver goalie Felix Potvin and slowly trickled into the goal.

Philadelphia 3, Buffalo 1--Simon Gagne and Mark Recchi each had a goal and an assist, and Roman Cechmanek stopped 20 shots at Buffalo, N.Y., to help the Flyers to their sixth consecutive victory.

Colorado 5, Columbus 2--Alex Tanguay scored two goals, extending his point streak to an NHL season-high 10 games, and Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk had two assists each for the Avalanche at Denver.

Tanguay, a second-year left wing, has six goals and 10 assists during the stretch. Dan Hinote and Shjon Podein added a goal and an assist each for the Avalanche, which at 15-4-3 matched the 1994-95 start of the Quebec Nordiques as the best in franchise history.

Calgary 1, Minnesota 1--Marc Savard scored a third-period goal as the Flames rallied and then held on for a tie at St. Paul, Minn.

The Flames have not won in three weeks, but the draw ended a four-game losing streak.