Thrashers Give Hartley Homecoming Victory

Marc Savard scored 1 minute 12 seconds into overtime and Dany Heatley had a goal and two assists as the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3, Thursday night at Denver to help coach Bob Hartley beat his former team.

Hartley led Colorado to four consecutive trips to the conference finals and the 2001 Stanley Cup title but was fired Dec. 18 after the Avalanche opened the season 10-8-9-4.

Atlanta had won only one of its previous eight games and was coming off an 8-0 loss to Vancouver two days earlier, the worst in franchise history.

But Hartley found a way to inspire his players to beat the Avalanche, which is 13-1-1-2 in its last 17 games.

San Jose 3, Vancouver 2 -- The Sharks won at Vancouver, British Columbia to break the Canucks’ NHL-best 14-game unbeaten streak.

Vancouver’s Todd Bertuzzi, who has 73 points, left the game early in the second period -- and did not return -- after getting hit near the left eye by the stick of San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov as he followed through on a clearing attempt.

St. Louis 4, Edmonton 1 -- Rookie goalie Curtis Sanford stopped 21 shots in his fourth career appearance to help the Blues win at St. Louis. The Blues won without their leading goal scorer, Keith Tkachuk, who served the first of a four-game suspension for a cross-checking penalty.

Ottawa 3, Dallas 2 -- Magnus Arvedson scored his 200th career point with a goal at 2:24 of overtime to help the Senators win at Ottawa.

Going into the game, the teams were tied in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy with 86 points.

Nashville 6, Pittsburgh 0 -- Tomas Vokoun got his second straight shutout and third this season, stopping 22 shots to lead the Predators at Nashville, Tenn.

Greg Johnson had two goals and an assist for Nashville, which is 7-1 in its last eight games.

New Jersey 3, New York Islanders 3 -- New Jersey’s Jamie Langenbrunner was stopped by New York’s Rick DiPietro on a short-handed breakaway with 10 seconds left in overtime as the Devils settled for a tie at Uniondale, N.Y.

Tampa Bay 3, Florida 1 -- Vincent Lecavalier had a goal and an assist to help the Lightning win at Tampa, Fla.

Roberto Luongo made 36 saves, including 22 on quality scoring chances, to keep the Panthers close.

New York Rangers 4, Boston 1 -- Ronald Petrovicky and Mark Messier scored short-handed goals to help the Rangers win at New York and pull to within four points of the Bruins.

The loss stretched Boston’s winless streak to seven.

Detroit 7, Toronto 2 -- Brett Hull had two goals and an assist and surpassed 1,300 career points in the rout for host Detroit.

Philadelphia 5, Chicago 2 -- The host Flyers, who entered with the fifth-worst power-play unit in the NHL, had three power-play goals.

Minnesota 6, Montreal 3 -- Cliff Ronning had two goals and an assist for the visiting Wild, which won its third straight.