PHILADELPHIA, 7 December 2003 — The Philadelphia Flyers extended their unbeaten streak at home to 14 games after edging past the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 on Friday.

The Flyers, the NHL’s top team with 38 points, are now 12-0-2 this season at the Wachovia Center, the second best home start in franchise history.

Philadelphia has won 11 straight home games, matching the team’s third longest streak.

Jim Vandermeer and Tony Amonte scored in the second period for the Flyers before John LeClair added the third goal early in the last session. Branko Radivojevic and Andrei Nazarov replied for Phoenix.

Hurricanes 1 Canadiens 1

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Mike Ribeiro tallied at 14:11 of the third period to earn the Montreal Canadiens a 1-1 tie with the Hurricanes.

Kevyn Adams scored for Carolina late in the opening period.

The Hurricanes out-shot the Canadiens 36-27.

Thrashers 6 Mighty Ducks 2

In Atlanta, Marc Savard notched two goals and Jeff Cowan, Serge Aubin, JP Vigier and Slava Kozlov also netted as the Thrashers thumped the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 6-2. Joffrey Lupul spoiled Byron Dafoe’s shutout bid with both Anaheim markers. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was replaced after allowing five goals on 28 Atlanta shots.

Flames 2 Wild 1

In Calgary, third-period goals by Shean Donovan and Jarome Iginla handed the Flames a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.

Iginla’s goal came with only 23 seconds remaining in regulation. Pascal Dupuis tallied for Minnesota 1:54 into the game. Minnesota lost for the first time in 47 games when ahead entering the final period.

Gretzky’s Oilers Outdoor

Sweater Nets $26,000

In Edmonton, Canada, the old-timers game jersey donned by retired hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky at the National Hockey League’s first outdoor event has netted $26,000 in an Internet auction.

The Edmonton Oilers jersey, which was autographed by the “Great One”, was bought by a Canadian man who also paid $9,600 on EBay for the jersey of Gretzky’s former Oiler teammate Mark Messier.

The buyer said he did not attend the Nov. 22 event, billed the Heritage Classic, because it was too cold with temperatures hovering around the -21 Celsius (-6 Fahrenheit).

The event, which featured Edmonton playing the Montreal Canadiens, marked the first time the NHL held a regular season game outdoors.

Gretzky, Messier and former Montreal great Guy Lafleur were just a few of the former stars who participated in a “old-timers” game prior to the regular season game.

More than 56,000 hockey fans braved the bone-chilling temperatures for over seven hours to see the two sold-out games at Commonwealth Stadium which is normally home to the gridiron Edmonton Eskimos club. Gretzky retired from the NHL in 1999 and holds more records than any other player in history, including most career goals 894.

Karpovtsev Surgery Adds

to Blackhawks Woes

The reeling Chicago Blackhawks suffered a fresh setback on Friday when they learned that defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev would require ankle surgery.

The Blackhawks, winless for 12 games (0-8-1-3), are already missing goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, left winger Eric Daze and center Alexei Zhamnov. The trio are out indefinitely.

The team said Karpovtsev would have bone chips removed from his ankle next week and was expected to be sidelined for several months.

The 33-year-old Russian has seven assists and a minus-11 rating in 18 games this season.