Panthers Win for Dudley

Rick Dudley won his debut as interim coach of the Florida Panthers as Roberto Luongo made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season Tuesday night in the Panthers’ 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Sunrise, Fla.

It was Dudley’s first victory as an NHL head coach since Nov. 22, 1991, when he was with the Buffalo Sabres.

“We’re going to try and keep this not too high, not too low,” Dudley said. “We won a game. It’s the start of hopefully many we’ll win together, and that’s what we’re going to build toward.”

Niklas Hagman, Andreas Lilja, Jaroslav Bednar and Valeri Bure scored for the Panthers, who ended a seven-game winless streak against Tampa Bay.

Dudley, also Florida’s general manager, replaced Mike Keenan, who was fired Sunday. Dudley was Tampa Bay’s general manager from 1999 to 2001 and hired Lightning Coach John Tortorella.

The Lightning has scored only once in its last two games after a team-record 9-0 shutout of Pittsburgh. Tampa Bay is 1-2-1-1 in its last five games after starting the season 7-0-1.

Colorado 4, San Jose 3 -- Teemu Selanne ignored constant boos from the fans to score the go-ahead goal in his return to San Jose, and Derek Morris had a career-high four points in the Avalanche’s victory.

In the off-season, Selanne rejected his contract option with the Sharks to sign with Colorado for less money.

Philadelphia 2, N.Y. Islanders 1 -- Jeremy Roenick had a goal and an assist at Philadelphia, and Mark Recchi scored the go-ahead goal to lead the Flyers to their fourth consecutive victory.

Jeff Hackett had 23 saves to help the Flyers remain unbeaten at home (5-0-2). Vancouver (7-0-1) is the only other NHL team without a home loss.

Minnesota 1, Vancouver 0 -- Sergei Zholtok scored his first goal of the season with 5:09 remaining at St. Paul, Minn., as Dwayne Roloson earned his 13th career shutout with 29 saves.

Roloson is 4-1 in his last five games, giving up only five goals.

Boston 4, Edmonton 3 -- Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist and Mike Knuble added two assists for the Bruins at Boston.

Boston had three power-play goals. The Oilers failed to score in five man-advantage opportunities.

Ottawa 5, Atlanta 3 -- Bryan Smolinski scored two goals, including a clinching goal in the final minute, to help the Senators end a five-game winless streak with a victory at Atlanta.

Martin Havlat slapped a shot past Atlanta goalie Pasi Nurminen to give the Senators a 4-3 lead early in the third period.

Columbus 1, Montreal 1 -- At Montreal, Rick Nash scored a power-play goal in the second period for the Blue Jackets, who are winless in seven road games (0-5-1-1).