Rangers goalie Mike Richter watches puck go off the goalpost. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        NEW YORK — Mike Richter made 22 saves for his first shutout in nearly three years to lead the New York Rangers to a 5-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.

        Theo Fleury scored twice and Mike York had a goal and two assists.

        Richter was never seriously tested as the Rangers played smothering defense in front of him.

        The shutout was the 23rd of his career and the first since Feb. 26, 1999, against Phoenix.

        Vladimir Malakhov and Petr Nedved also scored.

       Blues 3, Blue Jackets 1

        COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pavol Demitra scored two goals as St. Louis came from behind to snap a five-game road losing streak with a win over Columbus.

        Demitra's team-leading 16th and 17th goals pushed the Blues' overall winning streak to three games, and gave St. Louis its first ever win at Nationwide Arena in five tries.

        Scott Young scored into an empty net for the Blues.

        David Vyborny scored for Columbus.

       Islanders 1, Canadiens 1

        UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Sheldon Souray's goal early in the third period and Jose Theodore's 30 saves helped Montreal earn a tie with New York.

        Alexei Yashin scored the Islanders' only goal, while Chris Osgood turned aside 20 shots.

        Both teams raised current unbeaten streaks to six games. Montreal is 5-0-1-0, while the Islanders are 4-0-2-0.

        The Canadiens trail Northeast Division leader Ottawa by 3 points.

        New York remains first overall in the Eastern Conference with 35 points, and is two points up in the Atlantic Division on the Rangers.

       Sharks 5, Penguins 0

        SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mike Ricci had a goal and two assists, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 38 shots for his third shutout of the season as San Jose beat Pittsburgh.

        After winning just twice in their previous nine games, the Sharks blasted out of their slump with a wave of offense against Pittsburgh goalie Johan Hedberg, a former Sharks farmhand who was traded to the Penguins last spring.

        Scott Thornton, Teemu Selanne, Adam Graves and Vincent Damphousse also scored in the first two periods, while Niklas Sundstrom added two assists in the Pacific Division leaders' biggest blowout win of the season.

       Oilers 3, Kings 1

        LOS ANGELES — Eric Brewer and Jochen Hecht scored power-play goals and Tom Poti had two assists as Edmonton beat Los Angeles.

        Tommy Salo made 17 saves, losing a bid for his 29th career shutout when Eric Belanger came streaking in from the right wing and beat him to the glove side with 5:16 remaining.

        Mike Grier scored into an empty net with three seconds remaining.

       Coyotes 1, Predators 0

        PHOENIX — Sean Burke made 27 saves for his 27th career shutout as Phoenix beat Nashville to snap a three-game losing streak.

        Sergei Berezin scored his third goal of the season midway through the second period for the Coyotes, who avoided falling below the .500 mark for the first time since Oct. 18.

        Mike Dunham stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Predators, who have lost three of their last five games.

        Burke, who recorded his first shutout of the season in a 1-0 victory over Colorado on Oct. 27, was rarely challenged in the first two periods as the Predators mustered only 14 shots.

       Stars 3, Flames 0

        CALGARY, Alberta — Benoit Brunet scored 2:44 into the game and goaltender Marty Turco made 19 saves as Dallas made it four straight road wins with a victory over slumping Calgary.

        It was Turco's first shutout of the season and fourth of his career.

        Mike Modano and Pierre Turgeon also scored for Dallas.

        The Stars have won twice and tied twice since shaking up the team with a pair of trades Nov. 21 that added Brunet, Martin Rucinsky and Dave Manson.

        Calgary continued to struggle after a terrific start to the season. One week after having its 10-game unbeaten streak end in Buffalo, the Flames are winless in their last six (0-4-2).

        It also was Calgary's first regulation loss in 14 games at home (9-1-2-2), leaving the Chicago Blackhawks as the only team that has picked up at least one point in every home game.

        Lightning 5, Thrashers 2 TAMPA, Fla. — Nikolai Khabibulin made 39 saves as Tampa Bay beat Atlanta.

        Khabibulin turned aside 18 shots in the first period, including a stop of Dany Heatley on a breakaway during the opening minute.

        Pavel Kubina, Brad Richards, Jassen Cullimore, Dave Andreychuk and Vaclav Prospal scored for the Lightning, who have won four straight at home and five of seven overall.

        Atlanta's Brian Pothier scored his first NHL goal on a power-play with 11:22 left in the third to spoil Khabibulin's bid for his fourth shutout in six games.

        Pothier's goal also ended Tampa Bay's home record shutout streak at 158 minutes, 46 seconds.

        Heatley got the Thrashers within 4-2 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

       Bruins 3, Flyers 2, OT PHILADELPHIA — Jozef Stumpel scored off Brian Rolston's rebound at 3:22 of overtime to lift Boston past Philadelphia.

        Philadelphia's Mark Recchi tied it at 2 midway through the third period as the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit.

        Sergei Samsonov and Bill Guerin also scored for the Bruins, who snapped a two-game road losing streak and won their sixth game in their last eight starts. Marty Murray added a goal for the Flyers, 0-2-2 in their last four games.

       Wild 6, Panthers 0 ST. PAUL, Minn. — Dwayne Roloson stopped 29 shots to record his second shutout of the season as Minnesota beat Florida.

        The margin tied the most lopsided win in the Wild's two-year history. Last season, Minnesota blanked the Dallas Stars 6-0.

        Despite outshooting the Wild 29-20, the Panthers lost their fourth straight game on the road and their third overall.

        Florida is 1-3 since Pavel Bure was sidelined with a mild concussion sustained Nov. 19 at Toronto.

        Nick Schultz, Pascal Dupuis, Sergei Zholtok, Antti Laaksonen, Marian Gaborik and Aaron Gavey scored.

Sports Stories

NKU gets 2nd shot at UCSD NKU men knock off Indy 76-53 UK-IU focus falls on QBs Alabama slides past Southern Miss College basketball roundup Irish football takes the fight out of a coach NBA roundup NHL roundup Coming up this week

Q&A with Mike Brown
Bengals notebook
Mora says Manning issue 'closed book'
NFL: Eagles top Chiefs 23-10
Linemen don't get publicity but get job done
NewCath takes another title shot
Princeton's '87 state champs defined 'powerhouse'
Cintas tourney features top teams
Elite reach height of skill
Winton Woods, Roger Bacon No. 1
Girls basketball roundup
No. 3 Boone Co. holds off Ohio Co.
UC target of Temple coach's criticism
Tickets on sale for C-USA Tournament