Belanger sparks Capitals' victory

WASHINGTON - These new guys are fitting in fine with the Washington Capitals.

Eric Belanger scored his first goal for the Capitals, fellow trade-deadline pickup Joe Corvo had an assist, and NHL-leading Washington beat the New York Rangers, 2-0, last night to stretch its club-record home winning streak to 13 games.

With two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin mired in his longest goal drought of the season - six games - the Capitals are finding scoring elsewhere.

Eric Fehr put in his 17th goal off assists from Corvo and Tomas Fleischmann during a five-on-three in the first period, and Belanger doubled the lead in the second period.

Jose Theodore made 30 saves for his first shutout in nearly a year.

Goalie Alex Auld was making his first start for the Rangers, who claimed him off re-entry waivers from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 27. But New York, which entered the day tied with Atlanta and Montreal for the last playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, did not help Auld a whole lot.

In a bid to improve their chances of winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup, the Capitals added four players in four deals Wednesday: center Belanger from Minnesota; defenseman Corvo and right winger Scott Walker from Carolina in separate trades; and defenseman Milan Jurcina from Columbus.

Washington has won both of its games since the newcomers arrived, and the three acquisitions who are playing - Jurcina is injured - have all contributed.

N.Y. Rangers 0 0 0 – 0

Washington 1 1 0 – 2

First period: 1, Washington, Fehr 17 (Fleischmann, Corvo), 10:56 (pp). Penalties: Poti, Was (slashing), 1:34; Avery, NYR (hooking), 8:58; Staal, NYR (holding stick), 9:13.

Second period: 2, Washington, Belanger 14 (Laich, Semin), 13:38. Penalties: None.

Third period: None. Penalties: Belanger, Was (high-sticking), 1:33; Dubinsky, NYR (cross-checking), 15:54; Gaborik, NYR (goaltender interference), 18:09.

Shots on Goal: N.Y. Rangers 12-10-8–30. Washington 9-10-9–28.

Power-play opportunities: N.Y. Rangers 0 of 2; Washington 1 of 4.

Goalies: N.Y. Rangers, Auld 9-7-3 (28 shots-26 saves). Washington, Theodore 22-7-6 (30-30).

Attendance: 18,277 (18,277). Time: 2:19.

Penguins 6, Stars 3

PITTSBURGH - Sidney Crosby had two goals and Pittsburgh scored the final five goals in a victory over Dallas for its third consecutive win since the Olympic break ended.

Crosby scored the Penguins' final two goals - with 3 minutes, 13 seconds to play in the second and 1:35 into the third - to take the NHL lead with 44 on the season. He had been tied with the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, who was playing later against the New York Rangers.

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in his Penguins debut, and Jordan Staal, Chris Kunitz, and Pascal Dupuis had goals.

Mike Ribeiro and Brandon Segal each had a goal and an assist, and Loui Eriksson scored his 25th goal for Dallas, which has lost three straight since the NHL resumed play.

Dallas 1 2 0 – 3

Pittsburgh 1 3 2 – 6

First period: 1, Pittsburgh, Staal 18 (Cooke, Gonchar), 2:11. 2, Dallas, Ribeiro 15 (Segal, Robidas), 12:05. Penalties: Grossman, Dal (holding), 6:52; Kennedy, Pit (hooking), 12:40; Talbot, Pit (interference), 18:05.

Second period: 3, Dallas, Segal 3 (Ribeiro, Morrow), 1:29. 4, Dallas, Eriksson 25 (Richards, Ott), 2:28. 5, Pittsburgh, Kunitz 10 (Crosby, Letang), 4:01. 6, Pittsburgh, Dupuis 15 (Letang), 9:10. 7, Pittsburgh, Crosby 43 (Kunitz, Leopold), 16:47. Penalties: Ribeiro, Dal (holding), 5:59; Ott, Dal, major (fighting), 18:08; Adams, Pit, major (fighting), 18:08; Staal, Pit (hooking), 18:57; Gonchar, Pit (high-sticking), 19:54.

Third period: 8, Pittsburgh, Crosby 44 (Staal), 1:35 (sh). 9, Pittsburgh, Ponikarovsky 20 (Gonchar, Goligoski), 15:13 (pp). Penalties: Daley, Dal (high-sticking), 2:12; Letang, Pit (cross-checking), 6:34; Fedotenko, Pit (interference), 11:50; Morrow, Dal (slashing), 14:44; Barch, Dal, major (fighting), 15:15; Rupp, Pit, major (fighting), 15:15; Neal, Dal (tripping), 16:05.

Shots on Goal: Dallas 8-9-13–30. Pittsburgh 10-14-10–34.

Power-play opportunities: Dallas 0 of 6; Pittsburgh 1 of 5.

Goalies: Dallas, Lehtonen 0-1-0 (34 shots-28 saves). Pittsburgh, Fleury 30-16-4 (30-27).

Attendance: 17,132 (16,940). Time: 2:29.

Referees: Tom Kowal, Dan O'Rourke. Linesmen: Greg Devorski, Mark Pare.

Bruins 3, Islanders 2

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Marc Savard scored in the second period and Tim Thomas made 37 saves to lead Boston past New York in the opener of the Bruins' season-high seven-game road trip.

Milan Lucic and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which has won two straight and six of its last seven to move into seventh in the Eastern Conference with 69 points.

Josh Bailey and Matt Moulson scored for the Islanders, whose playoff hopes are fading after dropping two straight and 11 of their last 14, leaving them with 60 points.

Boston 1 2 0 – 3

N.Y. Islanders 0 1 1 – 2

First period: 1, Boston, Lucic 6 (Thornton, Wideman), 18:26. Penalties: Sim, NYI (tripping), 1:27.

Second period: 2, N.Y. Islanders, Bailey 14 (Streit, Okposo), 2:18 (pp). 3, Boston, Krejci 12 (Satan, Stuart), 5:04. 4, Boston, Savard 10 (Bergeron, Chara), 9:20 (pp). Penalties: Bergeron, Bos (interference), :50; Reese, NYI (interference), 8:26; Ryder, Bos, major-game misconduct (check from behind), 16:06.

Third period: 5, N.Y. Islanders, Moulson 23 (Nielsen), 5:43. Penalties: None.

Shots on Goal: Boston 16-12-6–34. N.Y. Islanders 4-22-13–39.

Power-play opportunities: Boston 1 of 2; N.Y. Islanders 1 of 2.

Goalies: Boston, Thomas 15-15-7 (39 shots-37 saves). N.Y. Islanders, Roloson 20-14-6 (34-31).

Attendance: 14,587 (16,234). Time: 2:16.

Referees: Dean Morton, Marc Joannette. Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Jonny Murray.

Panthers 4, 'Canes 1

SUNRISE, Fla. - Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps scored in a 1-minute, 11-second span of the first period, Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves, and Florida beat Carolina, snapping the Hurricanes' winning streak at seven games.

Cory Stillman scored late in the third period, and Kreps added an empty-net goal to help Florida win its second straight game after a seven-game losing streak.

Carolina 0 0 1 – 1

Florida 2 0 2 – 4

First period: 1, Florida, Frolik 16 (Kulikov, McCabe), 13:58. 2, Florida, Kreps 2 (Tarnasky), 15:09. Penalties: Harrison, Car, major (fighting), 1:15; Tarnasky, Fla, major (fighting), 1:15; Ruutu, Car (high-sticking), 11:53; Gleason, Car, major (fighting), 14:25; Allen, Fla, major (fighting), 14:25; Booth, Fla (slashing), 15:32; Cole, Car (slashing), 16:12; Ballard, Fla (roughing), 17:14; Whitney, Car (interference), 19:07.

Second period: None. Penalties: Frolik, Fla (hooking), 4:09; Florida bench, served by Frolik (too many men), 10:33; Weiss, Fla (tripping), 10:51; Florida bench, served by Matthias (too many men), 18:35.

Third period: 3, Carolina, Jokinen 25 (Sutter, Ruutu), 7:58. 4, Florida, Stillman 12 (Reinprecht, McCabe), 16:30. 5, Florida, Kreps 3 (Stillman, McCabe), 18:54 (en-pp). Penalties: Ballard, Fla (slashing), 3:21; Carolina bench, served by Ruutu (too many men), 17:01.

Shots on Goal: Carolina 6-10-16–32. Florida 15-6-9–30.

Power-play opportunities: Carolina 0 of 7; Florida 1 of 3.

Goalies: Carolina, Peters 3-1-0 (29 shots-26 saves). Florida, Vokoun 21-21-10 (32-31).

Attendance: 16,202 (19,250). Time: 2:21.

Leafs 2, Senators 1

OTTAWA - Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin scored on Toronto's first two shoot-out attempts to give the Maple Leafs a victory over flu-ridden Ottawa.

Jonas Gustavsson turned aside Ottawa's two attempts, with Alex Kovalev's backhander hitting the right post before the Swedish rookie got a glove on Jason Spezza's shot.

Kessel scored his 22d goal and had another potential goal waved off in the second.

Toronto 0 1 0 1 – 2

Ottawa 1 0 0 0 – 1

Toronto won shoot-out, 2-0.

First period: 1, Ottawa, Neil 8 (Spezza, Phillips), 17:03 (pp). Penalties: Kaberle, Tor (hooking), 1:32; Stalberg, Tor (roughing), 14:08; Winchester, Ott (roughing), 14:08; Lundmark, Tor (hooking, roughing), 15:26; Sutton, Ott (roughing), 15:26; Orr, Tor, minor-major (roughing, fighting), 18:05; Schenn, Tor, major (fighting), 18:05; Donovan, Ott, major (fighting), 18:05; Carkner, Ott, major (fighting), 18:05.

Second period: 2, Toronto, Kessel 22 (Bozak), 6:50. Penalties: Spezza, Ott (slashing), 11:16; Leclaire, Ott, served by Ruutu (delay of game), 13:05.

Third period: None. Penalties: Ruutu, Ott (holding), 3:14; Shannon, Ott (delay of game), 6:16; Primeau, Tor (slashing), 11:36; Karlsson, Ott (interference), 12:35; Phillips, Ott (tripping), 14:11.

Overtime: None. Penalties: None.

Shoot-out: Toronto 2 (Kessel G, Kulemin G), Ottawa 0 (Kovalev NG, Spezza NG).

Shots on Goal: Toronto 5-13-11-2–31. Ottawa 10-9-3-1–23.

Power-play opportunities: Toronto 0 of 6; Ottawa 1 of 4.

Goalies: Toronto, Gustavsson 10-13-8 (23 shots-22 saves). Ottawa, Leclaire 11-11-2 (31-30). Referees: Gord Dwyer, Stephen Walkom. Attendance: 20,036 (19,153). Time: 2:44.

Lightning 6,

Thrashers 2

TAMPA, Fla. - Steven Stamkos extended his franchise-record points streak to 16 games, and Antero Niittymaki remained perfect against Atlanta, helping Tampa Bay beat the Thrashers.

Stamkos had two goals and an assist. The center has 15 goals and 14 assists during his streak.

Atlanta 1 1 0 – 2

Tampa Bay 3 1 2 – 6

First period: 1, Atlanta, Bergfors 19 (Little, Antropov), 3:22. 2, Tampa Bay, St. Louis 23 (Stamkos, Downie), 8:47. 3, Tampa Bay, Stamkos 39 (Foster, St. Louis), 13:06 (pp). 4, Tampa Bay, Szczechura 3 (Bochenski, Tanguay), 17:00. Penalties: Szczechura, TB (tripping), 5:33; Oduya, Atl (slashing), 11:37; Antropov, Atl (delay of game), 13:38; Little, Atl (tripping), 17:31.

Second period: 5, Atlanta, Armstrong 11 (Artyukhin, Peverley), 13:37. 6, Tampa Bay, Purcell 4 (penalty shot), 16:36. Penalties: Parrish, TB (hooking), 2:45; Meszaros, TB (tripping), 6:24; Purcell, TB (tripping), 13:57; Afinogenov, Atl (slashing), 16:36.

Third period: 7, Tampa Bay, Lecavalier 18 (St. Louis, Purcell), 4:01. 8, Tampa Bay, Stamkos 40 (Szczechura, Bochenski), 16:19. Penalties: St. Louis, TB (hooking), 4:37; Kubina, Atl (roughing), 12:14; Thorburn, Atl (roughing), 12:14; Downie, TB, double minor-misconduct (roughing), 12:14; Thorburn, Atl, major (fighting), 18:05; Walker, TB, major (fighting), 18:05.

Shots on Goal: Atlanta 10-13-8–31. Tampa Bay 14-11-5–30.

Power-play opportunities: Atlanta 0 of 5; Tampa Bay 1 of 4.

Goalies: Atlanta, Hedberg 16-10-5 (30 shots-24 saves). Tampa Bay, Niittymaki 17-11-5 (31-29).

Referees: Kerry Fraser, Greg Kimmerly. Attendance: 19,926 (19,758). Time: 2:29.

Coyotes 4, Ducks 0

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, Wojtek Wolski scored his second goal in two games with Phoenix, and the Coyotes blanked Anaheim.

Petr Prucha, Vernon Fiddler, and Keith Yandle also scored to help the Coyotes win their second straight after a three-game losing streak.

Anaheim 0 0 0 – 0

Phoenix 1 2 1 – 4

First period: 1, Phoenix, Prucha 12 (Vrbata, Morris), 19:14 (pp). Penalties: Nokelainen, Pho (tripping), 2:36; Sexton, Ana (hooking), 5:29; Pyatt, Pho (tripping), 8:01; Bodie, Ana (interference), 10:57; Anaheim bench, served by Ryan (too many men), 17:47.

Second period: 2, Phoenix, Wolski 19 (Lombardi), :52. 3, Phoenix, Fiddler 6 (Wolski, Aucoin), 10:39. Penalties: Pyatt, Pho (slashing), 3:19; Lepisto, Pho (interference), 7:01; Beleskey, Ana (cross-checking), 13:42; Lombardi, Pho (holding), 14:11.

Third period: 4, Phoenix, Yandle 11 (Stempniak), 16:13. Penalties: Lepisto, Pho (holding), 1:40; Brookbank, Ana, misconduct, 3:50; Chipchura, Ana (roughing), 3:50; Fiddler, Pho, misconduct, 3:50; Yandle, Pho (roughing), 3:50; Lepisto, Pho (tripping), 12:14; Perry, Ana, major (fighting), 16:13; Morris, Pho, major (fighting), 16:13.

Shots on Goal: Anaheim 3-19-10–32. Phoenix 10-7-13–30.

Power-play opportunities: Anaheim 0 of 7; Phoenix 1 of 4.

Goalies: Anaheim, Hiller 26-19-2 (30 shots-26 saves). Phoenix, Bryzgalov 34-18-4 (32-32).

Referees: Dan O'Halloran, David Banfield. Linesmen: Thor Nelson, Brad Lazarowich.

Attendance: 14,965 (17,125). Time: 2:20.

Avalanche 7, Blues 3

DENVER - Chris Stewart completed his first NHL hat trick with a penalty shot, and Milan Hejduk scored twice in his return from a seven-week injury layoff to help Colorado beat St. Louis.

Craig Anderson made 39 saves in his team-record 20th consecutive start for Colorado. The Avalanche beat St. Louis for the third time in three meetings, snapping the Blues' season-high five-game winning streak.

St. Louis 1 1 1 – 3

Colorado 2 4 1 – 7

First period: 1, St. Louis, Perron 16 (Brewer, Berglund), 8:35. 2, Colorado, Hejduk 16 (Mueller, Duchene), 8:46. 3, Colorado, Stewart 22 (Stastny, Galiardi), 9:58. Penalties: Hendricks, Col (high-sticking), 6:31; Crombeen, StL (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:06; McLeod, Col (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:06; Quincey, Col (tripping), 10:10; Crombeen, StL, major (fighting), 12:13; McLeod, Col, major (fighting), 12:13; Backes, StL (interference), 13:06.

Second period: 4, Colorado, Stewart 23 (Galiardi, Wilson), :54. 5, Colorado, Hejduk 17 (Wilson, Mueller), 1:18. 6, Colorado, Galiardi 12 (Stewart, Stastny), 10:07. 7, St. Louis, Steen 17 (McClement, Boyes), 10:38. 8, Colorado, Stewart 24 (penalty shot), 19:03. Penalties: Winchester, StL (interference), 2:26; Liles, Col (interference), 3:15.

Third period: 9, St. Louis, Steen 18 (Colaiacovo, Weaver), 4:23. 10, Colorado, Hendricks 6 (O'Reilly, Yelle), 18:42 (en). Penalties: Oshie, StL (tripping), 4:44; Mueller, Col (holding), 10:33; McClement, StL (tripping), 13:08.

Shots on Goal: St. Louis 12-16-14–42. Colorado 12-15-6–33.

Power-play opportunities: St. Louis 0 of 4; Colorado 0 of 4.

Goalies: St. Louis, Mason 22-18-8 (15 shots-11 saves), Conklin (1:18 second, 17-15). Colorado, Anderson 33-18-5 (42-39).

Attendance: 18,007 (18,007). Time: 2:22.