Hull Retires; Coyotes Lose

Brett Hull was a pudgy blond kid with a big shot and an even bigger last name, his motivation a source of doubt but his talent beyond question.

Rejected by the Canadian national team and passed over in favor of 116 other players in the 1984 NHL entry draft, the third of Bobby Hull’s four sons grew up to become the scourge of NHL goaltenders -- and the conscience of a league that allowed itself to sink into a defensive stupor that blunted his remarkable goal-scoring ability.

Saying he could no longer meet his own standards, Brett Hull announced his retirement Saturday, about two hours before the Phoenix Coyotes lost to one of his former teams, the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0, at Glendale, Ariz.

Hull, 41, played in only five games this season and recorded merely one point. In his last game, against Nashville on Thursday, he played only 8 minutes 46 seconds over 12 shifts and took no shots.

“I wish no one had to do this, ‘cause it’s hard to think that you’re never ever going to grow older, be unable to live up to the expectations that you set for yourself,” an emotional Hull said during a news conference.

The dynamic winger ends his career as the NHL’s third-leading goal scorer, with 741, behind Wayne Gretzky’s 894 and Gordie Howe’s 801, but well ahead of the 610 goals his father scored for the Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers.

After the announcement by Hull, the Coyotes couldn’t do much against Manny Legace, who made 23 saves to give the Red Wings their first shutout this season.

Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each scored their third goal this season.

Helene Elliott

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Making his points

Brett Hull retired with these accomplishments:

* Third all-time in goals (741) behind Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801).

* Won Stanley Cup titles in 1999 with Dallas and 2002 with Detroit.

* Played in nine All-Star games.

* League MVP in 1991 and MVP of the playoffs in 1992.

* His 1,395 points are 18th all time.

Source: Bloomberg News and ESPN.com

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New York Rangers 5, Atlanta 1 -- Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves at New York to win for the second consecutive game and the Rangers scored three goals in the second period against rookie goalie Adam Berkhoel.

Lundqvist, subbing for injured regular Kevin Weekes, gave up only Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal this season and earned his second NHL victory.

Philadelphia 5, New York Islanders 1 -- Michal Handzus scored twice and Simon Gagne scored his NHL-leading seventh goal to lead the host Flyers.

Gagne has scored a goal in each of Philadelphia’s games. Peter Forsberg picked up his league-leading 10th assist on Gagne’s goal.

Toronto 3, Montreal 2 -- Eric Lindros scored twice, including one of the Maple Leafs’ two power-play goals at Montreal.

Ed Belfour made 29 saves to win his second start in as many nights.

Montreal rookie Tomas Plekanec scored his first goal 5:33 into the third period to tie the score, 2-2, before Lindros put Toronto back ahead at 12:16 with his fifth goal this season.

Ottawa 5, Boston 1 -- Dominik Hasek became the 23rd goalie to reach 300 victories, making 34 saves at Ottawa.

The 39-year-old Hasek, 4-0 in his first season with the Senators, is 300-192-82 in 14 seasons. He was working on a shutout until Patrick Leahy jammed in loose puck 3:00 into the third period.

The Senators were one for seven on power-play attempts and Boston couldn’t capitalize in five tries.

Carolina 6, New Jersey 1 -- Rod Brind’Amour scored two goals at East Rutherford, N.J., where the Hurricanes chased goalie Martin Brodeur after two periods in which he gave up five goals on 19 shots.

Cam Ward, a rookie who earned his first victory Oct. 7 against Pittsburgh, stopped 27 shots for Carolina.

Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1 -- Vincent Lecavalier scored a goal and set up two others at Pittsburgh and the Lightning extended the Penguins’ season-opening winless streak to a franchise record-tying six games.

The Penguins were 0-3-3 in 1969-70, the franchise’s third season.

Florida 3, Buffalo 2 -- Olli Jokinen scored a power-play goal with 1:07 to play, Mike Van Ryan had three assists and Roberto Luongo stopped 32 shots to lift the Panthers at Sunrise, Fla.

Jokinen scored the game-winner 17 seconds after Jochen Hecht was penalized for hooking. Buffalo’s Daniel Briere scored twice and Ryan Miller had 39 saves.

Nashville 4, St. Louis 1 -- Tomas Vokoun stopped 28 shots to help the Predators end a nine-game winless string at St. Louis, which is 1-4-0, its worst start since 1977-78, when the Blues lost their first six games.

The Predators remained one of the last unbeaten teams, along with Ottawa, at 5-0-0. Nashville won at St. Louis for the first time since Jan. 4, 2001, going 0-8-1 since.

San Jose 4, Chicago 3 -- Patrick Marleau scored two power-play goals in the second period and the Sharks won their third consecutive game.

Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves and Brad Stuart had two assists for the Sharks, who remained unbeaten at home this season.

Marleau, the Sharks’ captain, scored midway through the second period to end San Jose’s 0-for-12 drought on the power play.

Calgary 3, Edmonton 0 -- Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 33 shots at Calgary, Canada, for his eighth career shutout.

Kiprusoff was at his best in the second period when the Oilers outshot the Flames, 15-4, but were unable to cut into a 2-0 deficit.

Daymond Langkow and Jarome Iginla scored first-period goals, and Rhett Warrener scored an empty-netter with 1:02 remaining to help the Flames end a three-game losing streak.