Gomez Scores Twice to Lift Devils

The 12-day Olympic break made Scott Gomez’s goal-scoring drought seem even longer.

Gomez scored twice, Canada’s gold medal-winning goalie Martin Brodeur made 21 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Rangers, 4-3, Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Gomez scored the game-winner at 10:36 of the third period when he sliced across the crease and tapped in a pass from Bobby Holik. It was his first goal since Jan. 10.

“I’m not going to be a 50-goal scorer, but I can put the puck on net,” Gomez said. “It was a huge win and it was good to score, because it’s been a long time between goals.”

Brodeur felt well enough to play, but his U.S. Olympic counterpart, Mike Richter, sat out for the Rangers. Daniel Blackburn made 23 saves for New York.

Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury, who also played for Canada, scored for the Rangers.

Fleury, who has 181 penalty minutes, received a tripping penalty and a 10-minute misconduct late in the third period, irking Coach Ron Low.

“He can’t keep doing this,” Low said.

Fleury later threatened to retire if he doesn’t get the respect he feels he deserves from NHL officials, who he said have a “personal” bias against him.

Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 3--Brendan Shanahan, playing with a broken thumb, scored two goals, including the game-winner 2:55 into overtime at Tampa, Fla.

Lightning forward Dave Andreychuk scored his 241st career power-play goal, putting him eight behind Phil Esposito’s NHL record.

Detroit got the equalizer with 8:25 left in regulation when Luc Robitaille scored his 24th goal this season and 614th of his career.

Boston 3, New York Islanders 3--Michael Peca’s second goal of the game--a short-handed tally off a rebound with 1.4 seconds left in regulation--helped the Islanders to a tie at Uniondale, N.Y.

Washington 4, Florida 3--Ken Klee’s goal midway through the third period proved the winner at Washington and extended the Capitals’ unbeaten streak to a season-high five games.

Philadelphia 5, Chicago 4--Olympians Jeremy Roenick and Simon Gagne each had a goal and an assist, leading the Flyers at Philadelphia.

Atlanta 2, Buffalo 1--Rookie Ilya Kovalchuk scored with 3:06 left to lift the Thrashers at Atlanta.

Ottawa 5, Montreal 2--Daniel Alfredsson scored his 29th goal for Ottawa on a power play midway through the third period at Montreal.

Toronto 4, Carolina 1--Curtis Joseph made 27 saves for the Maple Leafs before breaking his left hand at Toronto. Joseph, who left with 8:22 remaining, is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks.

San Jose 5, Nashville 1--Teemu Selanne scored two goals in the first period at Nashville and the Sharks won their sixth in a row.

Phoenix 5, Dallas 1--Daymond Langkow had two goals and two assists at Phoenix, and the Coyotes gave Coach Bob Francis his 100th victory.

Ed Belfour lasted two periods, giving up four goals on 17 shots.

Calgary 2, Colorado 2--Joe Sakic had a goal and an assist to give the Avalanche a tie at Denver.

Patrick Roy stopped 30 shots for Colorado. Roman Turek had 27 saves.

St. Louis 4, Vancouver 4--Bryan Helmer scored a power-play goal with 1:29 left in regulation and the Canucks rallied for a tie at Vancouver, Canada.