Coyotes Victorious in Gretzky’s Return

Wayne Gretzky won a thriller in his return to the Phoenix Coyotes’ bench, with Derek Morris’ goal during a two-man advantage igniting a four-goal rally early in the third period of a 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night in San Jose.

Gretzky was back with the Coyotes after a 10-day leave of absence to be with his mother, who died of lung cancer on Dec. 19. After two slow periods, Phoenix provided a flurry of scores worthy of their coach, the NHL’s career scoring leader.

Captain Shane Doan, Oleg Saprykin and Mike Johnson also scored during that exciting 2:58 stretch early in the third period, turning a one-goal deficit into a 5-2 lead. The Coyotes chased befuddled Shark goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who was shaky even before giving up four goals on eight shots in the third.

San Jose rallied back on goals by Nils Ekman and rookie Milan Michalek, inciting the sellout crowd and setting up a frantic finish -- but despite a late power play, the Sharks couldn’t get the puck past Brian Boucher.

Doan had two goals for the Coyotes, who saw no difference in Gretzky’s demeanor after his absence to be with his mother, Phyllis, and family in Brantford, Canada. Gretzky returned to his off-season home in Los Angeles before Christmas, and rejoined the team Tuesday night.

Jonathan Cheechoo and Grant Stevenson each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who have lost five of six after a six-game winning streak. San Jose missed a chance to pull within one point of the Mighty Ducks and Phoenix for third place in the tough Pacific Division.

Boucher stopped 30 shots in his third start of the season for the Coyotes, with slumping Curtis Joseph relegated to the bench after being pulled in two of his last three starts.

Ottawa 6, Carolina 2 -- Dany Heatley, Bryan Smolinski and Daniel Alfredsson each had a goal and an assist, and Dominik Hasek made 33 saves to lead the host Senators over the Hurricanes.

Heatley and Alfredsson both scored their team-high 24th goals, and Smolinski, filling in on Ottawa’s top line for injured center Jason Spezza, got his seventh.

N.Y. Rangers 6, N.Y. Islanders 2 -- Jaromir Jagr had a goal and three assists and the visiting Rangers erased an early deficit by scoring the final six goals.

Martin Straka scored twice in the final period, and Petr Prucha, Tom Poti and Michael Nylander also had goals for the Rangers, who had lost four of five. The line of Jagr, Straka and Nylander combined for 12 points -- each player netting four points.

Vancouver 4, Nashville 3 -- Richard Park scored his first goal in 18 games midway through the third period to give the host Canucks their first win in six games. Markus Naslund, Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund also scored as Vancouver wrapped up a six-game homestand with a win after losing the first five.

New Jersey 7, Washington 2 -- Brian Gionta and Brian Rafalski each scored two goals to lead the Devils over the visiting Capitals. New Jersey went three for 10 on the power play after going four for 100 in its previous 14 games.

Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 3 -- Pierre Dagenais scored the tiebreaking goal with 11:26 remaining and Jose Theodore made 41 saves to help the Canadiens end a road losing streak at nine. Montreal’s record for consecutive road losses is 10, set in 1926.

Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 3 -- Sami Kapanen scored 13 seconds into overtime to give the Flyers the victory over the host Thrashers. Philadelphia has won the first three games of its 11-game trip.

Florida 6, Boston 4 -- Olli Jokinen had two goals and an assist to lead the Panthers over the visiting Bruins. Martin Gelinas, Joe Nieuwendyk, Chris Gratton and Gary Roberts also scored to help Florida improve to 4-0-1 in its last five home games.

St. Louis 2, Chicago 1 -- Rookie Jason Bacashihua made 21 saves and Eric Brewer and Dallas Drake scored to lead the Blues over the host Blackhawks. Chicago has lost five in a row.

Minnesota 4, Edmonton 2 -- Randy Robitaille and Marian Gaborik scored on the Wild’s first two shots and Gaborik added an empty-net goal in a victory over the host Oilers.