Sullivan Is a Hit for Nashville

Three shots, three goals. Steve Sullivan’s debut with the Nashville Predators was perfect.

Sullivan and his new teammates recorded only 20 shots, but that was more than enough to beat the San Jose Sharks, 7-3, Wednesday night at Nashville.

“It’s the kid in me that just loves scoring goals,” said Sullivan, acquired from Chicago on Monday. “You always hope for nights like these, but they are never easy.”

With 65 points, Nashville moved into a tie with the Kings for seventh in the Western Conference, holding the edge in wins.

Kimmo Timonen added two goals -- one on the power play -- and an assist, and Scott Walker had a power-play goal and three assists. The Predators were five of seven with the man advantage.

Defenseman Marek Zidlicky set a team record with five assists, three on Sullivan’s power-play goals.

San Jose started a four-goal first period when Patrick Marleau scored on a wraparound shot that caught goaltender Tomas Vokoun on the wrong side of the net 4 minutes 12 seconds into the game.

Sullivan tied it on the power play at 9:56 with a one-timer.

At 12:33, Sullivan struck again on the power play with a shot from the left side of the net along the goal line that beat goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

San Jose tied it, 2-2, at 14:03 with a short-handed goal by Nils Ekman, who scored as he skated low through the slot.

In the second period, the Predators needed only 24 seconds to take the lead on Greg Johnson’s goal. The lead grew to 4-2 at 5:06 when Sullivan found Timonen from behind the goal.

Sullivan scored his third power-play goal at 17:11 when he again beat Nabokov from the side of the net along the goal line.

Detroit 5, Phoenix 2 -- Brett Hull tied Dave Andreychuk’s NHL record with his 263rd power-play goal and Kris Draper scored twice to lead the Red Wings at Detroit.

Draper gave Detroit a two-goal cushion with 1:50 left and added an empty-netter a minute later for his 23rd goal of the season.

Florida 1, Buffalo 1 -- Roberto Luongo stopped 41 shots, allowing the Panthers to rally for a tie at Buffalo, N.Y.

Enforcer Eric Boulton ended a 54-game scoring slump, scoring for Buffalo, which had a four-game winning streak end.

Edmonton 5, Colorado 1 -- Ryan Smyth had a goal and two assists, and Shawn Horcoff added a goal and assist as the Oilers won at Denver.

Brett Clark ruined Tommy Salo’s bid for his 38th shutout by scoring in the last 30 seconds. Peter Forsberg was a late scratch for the Avalanche because of a strained hip. Colorado took a season-low 15 shots.

New York Islanders 4, Pittsburgh 3 -- Mariusz Czerkawski scored two power-play goals, and Garth Snow stopped 18 shots as the Islanders held on for a victory at Uniondale, N.Y., sending the Penguins to their 16th straight loss.