Hasek On, Pronger Is Out

Dominik Hasek was back on his game, and the Detroit Red Wings needed his best.

Hasek rebounded from a lopsided loss, turning aside early and late flurries as the Red Wings took command of their second-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues with a 4-3 victory on Thursday night at St. Louis.

“I felt good the whole game,” Hasek said. “It was a very good game for us except for the last few minutes.”

The Red Wings, who have a 3-1 series lead, can wrap up the series Saturday in Detroit.

The Blues’ prospects took a devastating hit when defenseman and captain Chris Pronger suffered a torn right knee ligament midway through the first period. Pronger, who has been averaging more than 30 minutes, is out for the rest of the season.

Hasek was yanked in Game 3 after giving up five goals on 16 shots in a 6-1 loss. The Blues tried to keep up the pressure again with a 10-0 shots advantage in the first five minutes. Brendan Shanahan, Jiri Fischer and Sergei Fedorov each scored their first goal of the series for Detroit.

Carolina 4, Montreal 3--Niclas Wallin scored on a slap shot through a screen 3:14 into overtime as the Hurricanes completed a stunning comeback at Montreal.

The Hurricanes regained the home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series by scoring four unanswered goals to even the series, 2-2.

Carolina’s flurry started after Montreal Coach Michel Therrien was assessed a crucial penalty. He was called for abusing the officials after protesting a cross-checking penalty on defenseman Stephane Quintal.

That gave the Hurricanes, down, 3-0, a two-man advantage just 2:40 into the third. Sean Hill ended Jose Theodore’s bid for his first playoff shutout, scoring on a hard slap shot from the slot at 3:57.

Bates Battaglia narrowed the lead to 3-2 with his second goal in two games, scoring past Theodore’s stick on a shot from the slot that appeared to be slightly screened. With the Canadiens reeling and the Hurricanes buzzing, Coach Paul Maurice pulled Arturs Irbe for an extra attacker with 1:07 left, and it paid off with a goal by Erik Cole.

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King defenseman Philippe Boucher, eligible to become an unrestricted free agent if he is not re-signed by the club before July 1, underwent surgery Thursday to repair a detached retina in his right eye, the Kings announced.

Boucher, 29, will be closely monitored for six weeks and a full recovery is expected, the Kings said. Boucher suffered the injury and a mild concussion April 25 in Game 5 of the Kings’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche when a shot caromed off two other players and struck him in the face.