Jonas Hiller

Andrew Ebbett scored 59 seconds into overtime last night, with assists from Jason King and Brendan Mikkelson, to give the Portland Pirates a 3-2 win over the Phantoms in the AHL. Despite the loss, the Phantoms maintained their overall one-point lead in the standings ahead of the Toronto Marlies, who were edged by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 3-2. Darren Reid had tied it at 2-2 for the Phantoms when he scored the only goal of the...

Perry and Getzlaf team up for Ducks win Corey Perry deflected Ryan Getzlaf's centering feed past Jason LaBarbera with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left, and Jonas Hiller made 36 saves as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes , 3-2, Sunday night in Arizona. In Vancouver, British Columbia, Mason Raymond scored twice and added an assist, and rookie backup Cory Schneider made 32 saves as the Canucks beat the Carolina Hurricanes , 5-1.   Iginla scores at last Fifteen games and nearly six months since his last goal, Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla snapped out of his scoring drought in dramatic fashion late Saturday night.

Defenseman Mike Mottau must think there's some kind of hex on him after his stumble gift-wrapped a shorthanded goal for the visiting New York Islanders' Josef Vasicek 5 minutes, 25 seconds into the second period, that would be all goalie Rick DiPietro would need as he made 26 saves to post his second shutout of the season, 1-0 over the New Jersey devils last night. Devils goalie Martin Brodeur also needs a change of luck after failing for the third time to get his 500th career win despite allowing only one goal on 26 shots.

The last two Stanley Cup champions were evenly matched in their second-round series opener, and then Detroit got the best of Anaheim. Nicklas Lidstrom scored his second goal of the game with 49.1 seconds left in regulation, lifting the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the visiting Ducks last night in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series. Lidstrom started the winning play behind his own net, skated up the ice, shot and scored on the rebound off Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.

All the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to end a 10-game losing streak against the New Jersey Devils was 3 days, a lighting problem, a 2-hour game delay, a sidetrip to Philadelphia, and half-a-game yesterday. The great goaltending by Mike Smith and the two goals by Steven Stamkos didn't hurt, either. Smith made 33 saves and Stamkos scored once Friday and once yesterday as the Lightning finished off the Devils 4-2 in the completion of a game that was suspended 2 nights earlier because a lighting problem in the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. created a safety issue for the players.

Dustin Byfuglien led Chicago to its franchise-record ninth straight victory, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Blackhawks' 4-1 win over host Minnesota yesterday. Chicago broke the team record of eight straight victories set in December 1971 and matched in January 1981. Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg also scored, and Cristobal Huet made 18 saves, allowing only Cal Clutterbuck's third-period goal. Chicago trails Detroit by four points in the Central Division with two games in hand.

One practice wasn't enough for Rick Tocchet to correct all that was wrong with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tocchet lost his debut as Tampa Bay coach when Tuomo Ruutu and Rod Brind'Amour scored in a shootout and Cam Ward stopped two shots to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 victory yesterday in Raleigh, N.C. "It's a step in the right direction," Tocchet said. "I thought the guys played well, I think they're really starting to get what we're trying to do here. " Tocchet became a head coach for the first time when Barry Melrose was fired Friday after Tampa Bay lost three straight games.

Ales Kotalik's power-play goal snapped a 0-0 third-period tie, and backup goalie Steve Valiquette made 18 saves in the New York Rangers' fourth straight victory, 3-0 over the visiting Anaheim Ducks yesterday. New York, 4-0 since a season-opening loss at Pittsburgh, earned the victory in Sean Avery's season debut following a knee injury during training camp. Avery played his annoying style and goaded Ducks defenseman Ryan Whitney into a roughing penalty 1 minute, 34 seconds into the third period, setting up Kotalik's winning score.

This was Tim Thomas' turn to take control of the Eastern Conference semifinals. After watching Carolina goalie Cam Ward dominate three consecutive games and push Boston to the brink of elimination, Thomas stopped 19 shots for his first NHL playoff shutout and helped the Bruins keep their season going with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Hurricanes in Game 5 last night. "Timmy deserved the kind of night he had tonight," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He's been peppered with a lot of shots in the games before that.

The third overtime was only about a minute old when Anaheim's Todd Marchant flicked a wrist shot through traffic toward the net. Detroit goalie Chris Osgood never saw it. Marchant delivered a rare goal yesterday and the visiting Ducks won the first multiple-overtime game of this postseason, 4-3, to even the Western Conference semifinal with the Red Wings at one game each. "Not many goals get decided off of my stick, that's for sure," he said. Marchant, who has been in the NHL since the 1993-94 season, had just five goals during the regular season and 12 previously in the playoffs.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Flyers, facing an Anaheim team that was without high-scoring captain Ryan Getzlaf, could have moved into the Eastern Conference's top spot with a win Friday night. Instead, they squandered the opportunity, dropping a 5-2 decision to Anaheim at the Honda Center. The Flyers missed injured defenseman Chris Pronger more than the Ducks missed the injured Getzlaf. They got two goals apiece from Jason Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky, along with a single goal from former Cherry Hill resident Bobby Ryan.

Perry and Getzlaf team up for Ducks win Corey Perry deflected Ryan Getzlaf's centering feed past Jason LaBarbera with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left, and Jonas Hiller made 36 saves as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes , 3-2, Sunday night in Arizona. In Vancouver, British Columbia, Mason Raymond scored twice and added an assist, and rookie backup Cory Schneider made 32 saves as the Canucks beat the Carolina Hurricanes , 5-1.   Iginla scores at last Fifteen games and nearly six months since his last goal, Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla snapped out of his scoring drought in dramatic fashion late Saturday night.

VANCOUVER - Perfection in hockey is often determined by less than a second, less than an inch, less than a breath. That was the difference between the Swiss team and the U.S. team yesterday in Team USA's 2-0 quarterfinal victory. It was the difference, too, between Jonas Hiller, the outstanding goalie of the Anaheim Ducks, nearly stealing this game from the nation he pays most of his taxes to, and just being the reason the tired and torturous team from Switzerland had a chance in it, right down to its harrowing end. Hiller stopped 41 shots, about a dozen spectacularly.

VANCOUVER - Everything was upside down for Team USA, especially Bobby Ryan. The Cherry Hill-born forward was skating into Switzerland's zone yesterday when he encountered Mathias Seger. The Swiss defenseman had Ryan lined up perfectly, and his check sent the burgeoning Anaheim Ducks star end over end. "Pretty graceful," Ryan said afterward. "I haven't seen the hit yet. I'm sure it's on YouTube by now, so I'll be sure to check it out. " Ryan was able to joke because the Swiss failed to upend his team the way Seger upended him. It was perilously close, however.

All the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to end a 10-game losing streak against the New Jersey Devils was 3 days, a lighting problem, a 2-hour game delay, a sidetrip to Philadelphia, and half-a-game yesterday. The great goaltending by Mike Smith and the two goals by Steven Stamkos didn't hurt, either. Smith made 33 saves and Stamkos scored once Friday and once yesterday as the Lightning finished off the Devils 4-2 in the completion of a game that was suspended 2 nights earlier because a lighting problem in the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. created a safety issue for the players.

Alex Ovechkin's debut as Capitals captain was a success even though he was kept off the score sheet. Tomas Fleischmann had a goal and two assists after moving from left wing to center, and Alexander Semin scored twice to lift Washington to a 4-2 victory last night over the visiting Montreal Canadiens that snapped a season-high three-game losing skid. Before the game, Washington introduced Ovechkin as the team's 14th captain. He succeeds Chris Clark, who was traded to Columbus on Dec. 28, and becomes the sixth Russian-born player to captain an NHL team.

Ales Kotalik's power-play goal snapped a 0-0 third-period tie, and backup goalie Steve Valiquette made 18 saves in the New York Rangers' fourth straight victory, 3-0 over the visiting Anaheim Ducks yesterday. New York, 4-0 since a season-opening loss at Pittsburgh, earned the victory in Sean Avery's season debut following a knee injury during training camp. Avery played his annoying style and goaded Ducks defenseman Ryan Whitney into a roughing penalty 1 minute, 34 seconds into the third period, setting up Kotalik's winning score.

This was Tim Thomas' turn to take control of the Eastern Conference semifinals. After watching Carolina goalie Cam Ward dominate three consecutive games and push Boston to the brink of elimination, Thomas stopped 19 shots for his first NHL playoff shutout and helped the Bruins keep their season going with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Hurricanes in Game 5 last night. "Timmy deserved the kind of night he had tonight," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "He's been peppered with a lot of shots in the games before that.

The third overtime was only about a minute old when Anaheim's Todd Marchant flicked a wrist shot through traffic toward the net. Detroit goalie Chris Osgood never saw it. Marchant delivered a rare goal yesterday and the visiting Ducks won the first multiple-overtime game of this postseason, 4-3, to even the Western Conference semifinal with the Red Wings at one game each. "Not many goals get decided off of my stick, that's for sure," he said. Marchant, who has been in the NHL since the 1993-94 season, had just five goals during the regular season and 12 previously in the playoffs.

The last two Stanley Cup champions were evenly matched in their second-round series opener, and then Detroit got the best of Anaheim. Nicklas Lidstrom scored his second goal of the game with 49.1 seconds left in regulation, lifting the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the visiting Ducks last night in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series. Lidstrom started the winning play behind his own net, skated up the ice, shot and scored on the rebound off Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller.