Khabibulin Stops 32 Shots in His Triumphant Return

Nikolai Khabibulin still has it. He proved it Friday night.

Khabibulin, playing his first NHL game in nearly two years because of a contract dispute, stopped 32 shots as the Tampa Bay Lightning ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

“It was good for me to get out there so I know where I stand right now,” Khabibulin said.

“I wanted to have this game to get back into it. I’m still pretty far from where I want to be, but I thought the guys played well in front of me.”

Khabibulin was most impressive in the first period. He stopped 18 of 19 shots in the period, three when the Panthers had a two-man advantage.

Khabibulin’s biggest save came against Pavel Bure, the league’s leading goal-scorer. During a five-on-three power play, Khabibulin stuffed Bure from point-blank range.

He stopped 10 shots in the second period and four in the third.

“I felt my legs started to get tired in the third,” he said. “Fortunately I didn’t have to face a lot of shots. Right now, I’m not where I want to be. Timing and little things are off.”

Khabibulin sat out last season and most of this season as a restricted free agent. When it became clear that a contract could not be reached with the Phoenix Coyotes, with whom he spent his first five NHL seasons, Khabibulin was traded to Tampa Bay.

Brad Richards, Matthew Barnaby and Nils Ekman scored for Tampa Bay.

Dallas 5, Edmonton 4--Brenden Morrow and Joe Nieuwendyk each scored two goals at Edmonton, Canada, as the Stars clinched their fifth consecutive Pacific Division title.

Buffalo 4, Atlanta 0--Dominik Hasek stopped 30 shots at Buffalo, N.Y., shutting out Atlanta for the second time in five nights, and helped the Sabres clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth.

Ottawa 5, Boston 4--Martin Havlat scored 2:26 into overtime at Ottawa, and Patrick Lalime made 44 saves, capping a wild game in which the Senators trailed three times but rallied from a two-goal, second-period deficit to regain the Eastern Conference lead from the New Jersey Devils.

Carolina 4, Washington 3--Rod Brind’Amour scored 3:07 into overtime at Raleigh, N.C. The victory, coupled with Boston’s loss to Ottawa, gave the Hurricanes a one-point lead over the Bruins for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Washington leads the Southeast Division.