Roberts Reaches a Milestone With Hat Trick

Gary Roberts proved he can still score.

Roberts scored three goals to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. He became the sixth player to score 350 goals and amass 2,000 penalty minutes.

“He got ‘em from where he gets ‘em, in close,” said Toronto Coach Pat Quinn, who became the seventh NHL coach with 500 victories. “You have to pay a price for that, and he’s done it his whole career.”

Roberts, after a productive postseason last spring, was disappointed to have only four goals entering the game.

“I’ve obviously been pressing a little bit,” the 14-year veteran said. “It certainly felt good to get a few tonight.”

Mats Sundin added a goal and an assist in the third period, and Shayne Corson also had a goal for Toronto, which tied the Rangers and New York Islanders atop the Eastern Conference with 37 points.

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San Jose 3, Calgary 1--Owen Nolan had a goal and an assist, and Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves as the Sharks won at Calgary.

Niklas Sundstrom and Adam Graves also scored for San Jose, which is 4-0-1 in its last five and moved three points ahead of Dallas for first place in the Pacific Division.

Craig Conroy scored for Calgary, which is 1-5-4 in its last 10 games.

Tampa Bay 1, Columbus 0--Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 27 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, and Fredrik Modin scored his 100th NHL goal as the Lightning won at Tampa Bay.

New York Islanders 2, Philadelphia 0--Mariusz Czerkawski scored twice, and Garth Snow made 33 saves for his 13th career shutout as the Islanders won at Philadelphia.

The win snapped a four-game winless streak (0-2-2) for New York.

Pittsburgh 4, Boston 1--Stephane Richer had two goals and an assist, and Johan Hedberg made 28 saves for the Penguins at Boston.

Washington 3, Atlanta 3--Dmitri Khristich scored two goals, and Olaf Kolzig made two saves in the final seconds of overtime for the Capitols at Atlanta.

Nashville 4, Ottawa 2--Defenseman Andy Delmore scored two power-play goals as the Predators posted the 100th victory in franchise history.

The Phoenix Coyotes will allow three players from Slovakia to play one game for their country as it tries to qualify for the Olympics. Slovakia is one of eight countries that must play three preliminary matches to qualify for the medal round.... The Red Wings have signed defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to a multiyear contract extension.