Bruins Have More Punch Than Senators

In a tough Eastern Conference battle between the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators, it was a fight to the finish.

Five different players scored for Boston and Bill Guerin added two assists to lift the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the Senators on Thursday at Boston.

The Bruins avoided their second three-game losing streak of the season and beat Ottawa for only the third time in the last 13 games.

After Hal Gill gave the Bruins a 5-1 lead in the third period, Ottawa’s frustration boiled over as simultaneous fights broke out in the Senators’ end, including one between goaltenders Patrick Lalime and Byron Dafoe. Seven players were ejected and there were 150 penalty minutes in the third.

“I was glad that I was kicked out because I was pretty tired and don’t know if I could’ve played the last six minutes,” the Bruins’ Dafoe said. “We play them again in a week and there might be some bad blood.”

Pittsburgh 6, Calgary 4--Mario Lemieux assisted on all three of Aleksey Morozov’s goals and added an empty-net goal as the Penguins survived a late scare to win at Calgary.

Lemieux, playing his third game after missing 24 because of a hip injury, has scored in the Penguins’ last two games.

Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 3--John LeClair scored the go-ahead goal 2:02 into the third period, and the host Flyers won their seventh straight.

Montreal 1, Carolina 1--Jeff Hackett stopped 29 shots, including two tough chances in overtime, as the Canadiens tied the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

New Jersey 6, New York Rangers 4--Sergei Brylin had two goals and an assist and the Devils matched their biggest offensive effort of the season in a win at East Rutherford, N.J. The Rangers are winless in nine games.

Nashville 3, Toronto 2--Greg Johnson scored 47 seconds into overtime as the Predators won at Nashville.

St. Louis 5, Vancouver 4--Keith Tkachuk scored twice and Scott Mellanby and Al MacInnis each had a goal and two assists as the host Blues won their seventh straight.

Colorado 3, Phoenix 2--Ville Nieminen scored on a breakaway with two seconds left in overtime, lifting the Avalanche at Denver.

San Jose 3, New York Islanders 2--Evgeni Nabokov stopped 31 shots for his third consecutive victory, and the Sharks scored two power-play goals in a win at San Jose.

Mike Ricci and Mike Rathje scored on the power play, while Marco Sturm extended his points streak to four games with a goal.

*

Russia’s Sergei Fedorov should quit the Detroit Red Wings after they “disrespected” the all-star center by asking him to play defense, his father told the Sport Express newspaper, a Russian publication. “This summer, when Sergei becomes an unrestricted free agent, I urge him to change the club,” said Viktor Fedorov. “Sergei has already proved everything to everyone in his past 11 seasons in Detroit.” Fedorov is in the final year of a six-year, $38 million contract....The Chicago Blackhawks acquired defenseman Joe Reekie from the Washington Capitals for a fourth-round draft pick in this year’s entry draft....Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov will put his case to be allowed to play at the Winter Olympics to the top international sports court next week, the International Ice Hockey Federation said. The federation has ruled that Nabokov, who plays for San Jose, is ineligible to compete for Russia because he played for the Kazakstan national team in the 1994 IIHF World Championship.