DETROIT, 26 October 2003 — The Detroit Red Wings, boosted by two goals from captain Steve Yzerman, secured a franchise-record 15th consecutive home victory by thumping the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Friday.
Yzerman, sidelined for much of last season after a knee operation, took his goal tally for the new campaign to four after pouncing on a pair of passes from Henrik Zetterberg.
The Red Wings have won their first four games at Joe Louis Arena this season after capturing their final 11 in 2002-03. Detroit’s previous club record of 14 straight home wins was set in 1964-65.
Jason Woolley and Kris Draper also netted for Detroit.
Dominik Hasek, who faced 16 shots, posted his first shutout since returning to the NHL following a one-year break. It was his 62nd career shutout, four behind Toronto’s Ed Belfour for the most among active goaltenders.
The Stars dropped their second straight game since making a 4-2-0 start.
Devils 2 Penguins 1
In Pittsburgh, Brian Rafalski and Brian Gionta netted their first goals of the season past rookie netminder Marc-Andre Fleury as the New Jersey Devils edged the Penguins 2-1. It was the first win in three games for the Devils, who attacked the 18-year-old Fleury with 34 shots, including 26 in the opening two periods.
Rafalski opened the scoring at 14:17 of the first before Gionta added the go-ahead goal in the third. Martin Brodeur stopped 17 shots as New Jersey improved to 8-3-0 in the last 11 meetings with Pittsburgh. Martin Straka scored for the Penguins.
Wild 4 Panthers 3
In Sunrise, Florida, Wes Walz and Richard Park each had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild halted a five-game winless streak with a 4-3 victory over the Panthers.
Minnesota had only nine goals in its winless streak but scored three times in the second period to take control. Antti Laaksonen and Alexandre Daigle also tallied for the Wild.
Ivan Novoseltsev, Olli Jokinen and Darcy Hordichuk replied for the Panthers. Florida’s Roberto Luongo stopped 36 shots but allowed more than two goals for the first time this year.
Blues 2 Flames 1
In Calgary, Jeff Heerema scored his first goal of the season 46 seconds into the third period and Chris Osgood made 25 saves as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Flames 2-1.
Heerema put St. Louis ahead for good when he took a diagonal pass from Pavol Demitra and beat Jamie McLennan with a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle.Doug Weight also scored for the Blues (4-2-0-1). Rookie Matthew Lombardi grabbed his first career goal for the Flames (3-3-0).
Sabres 5 Mighty Ducks 2
In Anaheim, Taylor Pyatt scored twice and Daniel Briere had three assists for the Buffalo Sabres, who scored four unanswered goals in the third period to rally for a 5-2 triumph over the Mighty Ducks.
The Sabres split the first four contests of a team-record, six-game road trip that ends in Colorado today. Petr Sykora and rookie Joffrey Lupul scored for Anaheim, which has not defeated Buffalo since Jan. 1, 1999.
