Hockey News

TORONTO - Avoiding injuries was an important factor in Montreal’s surprising ascent this season but players on the Canadiens are suddenly dropping on the eve of the NHL playoffs.

A 4-2 loss to the eliminated Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night mattered little compared to the concern the Canadiens had after losing captain Saku Koivu and offensive defenceman Mark Streit to foot injuries. The two players were injured during Friday’s 4-3 overtime win in Buffalo but played the entire game - Koivu and Streit both assisting on the overtime winner by Chris Higgins.

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PROVIDENCE, RI - Byron Bitz scored two goals and added an assist to lead Providence to their league high 50th win of the season as the Bruins extended the Sharks winless skid to five games with a 5-3 Loss in Providence on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, the Sharks (27-34-5-6) fall 14 points behind the Manchester Monarchs for the fourth and final Atlantic Division playoff spot.

The Sharks trailed early as Byron Bitz scored his first of two goals of the afternoon after he connected on the first power play of the game to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Tom Walsh would tie the score at 1-1 after a 60-foot bomb from the blue line beat Bruins netminder Jordan Sigalet top shelf at 11:37 of the first period. The Bruins would come right back after T.J Trevelyan was set up in front of the Sharks net by Matt Hendricks on the power play to give the Bruins a 2-1 edge after twenty minutes of play.

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BOSTON (AP) -Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for his third shutout of the season, and David Krejci had a goal and two assists Saturday to help the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0.

The Bruins have 90 points - one behind Philadelphia and the New York Rangers.

Martin Gerber stopped 27 shots for the Senators, who have won once in their last five games.

P.J. Axelsson and Marco Sturm scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the second period, and Shane Hnidy made it 3-0 on a short-handed slap shot 73 seconds into the third.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA - Matt D’Agostini had a goal and two assists to lead the Hamilton Bulldogs to a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday night at the Wachovia Spectrum. The win snaps the Bulldogs’ franchise-long losing and winless streaks at 12 games and improves their record to 32-32-3-6 on the season.

Hamilton opened the scoring at 4:36 of the first period when Kyle Chipchura snapped a shot past netminder Jeremy Duchesne for his ninth goal of the season. D’Agostini and Marvin Degon earned assists on the play.

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The Stars fell behind early but came back to win 4-1 over the Quad City Flames. The Stars were previously 8-25-3 when giving up the first goal and just 2-4-2 against the Flames on the season. But neither of those stats mattered on a night in which Ray Sawada scored his first professional goal in his first professional game.

The Flames broke on the board first Friday night as Grant Stevenson beat Tobias Stephan on a centering feed from Krys Kolanos. The goal came on the powerplay after Stars forward Marty Sertich took a 2-minute penalty for interference. The Stars best chance of the period to score came just minutes after the Flames opening tally when James Neal skated through all four Quad City penalty killers before having the puck poked away at the last second by Curtis McElhinny, the Flames goalie.

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DENVER - If the Colorado Avalanche make the playoffs, they will have their captain to thank.

Joe Sakic forced overtime by scoring with 5.9 seconds left in regulation, and then added the decisive tally in a shootout as the Avalanche strengthened their playoff position with a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

The Avalanche are seventh in the Western Conference with 90 points, four ahead of Nashville and Vancouver, who are battling for the eighth and final spot. Edmonton is two points behind the Canucks and Predators.

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HOUSTON, Texas - The Peoria Rivermen took a 4-0 lead before the Houston Aeros recorded their only goal of the game in the second period. Peoria regained their lead for a 5-1 victory in front of 7,946 fans at Toyota Center Friday night. Houston (39-26-2-3) will hit the road for the next eight games as Peoria (36-27-4-5) returns to San Antonio for a tilt tomorrow night.

Peoria came out on top of the first period, scoring two unanswered goals in the frame. Rivermen center Trent Whitfield got the scoring starting by slapping in the puck from the faceoff circle on Brust’s glove side at 7:04 in the first. The play was set up when Yan Stastny stole the puck in the neutral zone forcing an odd-man rush. Ryan Reaves followed with a goal of his own at 14:15 in the first. Defensemen Ryan Glenn and Derek Martin earned the assists.

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -Brian Gionta, Patrik Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner scored in the shootout to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 12th straight home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4 on Friday night.

New Jersey snapped a season-high, five-game losing streak (0-4-1) and ended Philadelphia’s four-game winning run. Every Devils shooter beat goalie Martin Biron in the tiebreaker.

Johnny Oduya had his first two-goal game for the Devils and Jamie Langenbrunner also scored in regulation.

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When news broke that Marian Hossa was headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins, visions of the All-Star forward teaming with reigning MVP Sidney Crosby flooded the minds of hockey watchers, and put fear into teams faced with defending them.

Injuries to Crosby’s ankle and Hossa’s knee prevented the two from being on the ice in the same game until Thursday. Now that they are together, and the Penguins are in prime contention for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, it will soon be known if the blockbuster deal pays off.

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Even though he went scoreless in his return, the surging Pittsburgh Penguins welcomed back captain Sidney Crosby.

Crosby, who missed the previous seven games and 28 of the past 31 with a high ankle sprain, played on a line with Marian Hossa, took three shots in his first game since March 9 and the Penguins upended the New York Islanders 3-1 on Thursday night.

“(The ankle) feels a lot better,” said Crosby, who played in three games earlier this month but then sat out when his ankle was subsequently sore. “My timing’s still not there, but as far as the ankle goes, it feels OK.

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