NEW YORK, 21 January 2004 — Cliff Ronning scored a pair of goals in his fourth game with the Islanders as New York registered a welcome win over the Ottawa Senators, downing the Sens 5-2 in Long Island on Monday.
Roman Hamrlik and Jason Blake both added a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who have only beaten Ottawa twice in their last 19 home games. Ottawa holds a 26-5-8 record over the Islanders overall in the past eight years. But Rick DiPietro made 30 saves for the Islanders as they got some revenge on the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last season.
“I look at it as two points rather than who we beat,” Islanders coach Steve Stirling said. “Yes, it’s nice, but the points are the most important thing.”
The Islanders carried a 2-0 lead into the third period on goals by Blake in the first period and Ronning in the second.
Ottawa bounced back to tie the game, however, on goals by Chris Neil and Daniel Alfredsson 1:02 apart early in the third period.
Hamrlik then gave the Islanders the lead for good with his goal at 7:34 before Oleg Kvasha made it 4-2 just 21 seconds later.
The 38-year-old Ronning, who signed with the club as a free agent 10 days ago, notched his 300th career goal when he made it 5-2 six minutes later. The goal was his third of the season. Martin Prusek allowed all five New York goals on just 23 shots.
In other play, Sergei Samsonov scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Bruins to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers in Boston.
The Bruins are 7-1-1-0 since Jan. 1 and 5-0-1-0 in their last six home games as they rebounded after losing 4-0 to Ottawa on Saturday. Wearing their 1970s-styled jerseys, the Bruins turned in a solid offensive effort after being shutout in Ottawa.
It was a rough affair featuring several fights, including one in which New York’s Eric Lindros sent Boston’s Joe Thornton to hospital with a cut above his right eye.
Andrew Raycroft made 34 saves in goal for the Bruins, allowing only goals by Chris Simon in the second period and Lindros in the third. Brian Rolston, Glen Murray, Thornton and Jiri Slegr scored the other goals for the Bruins.
In Sunrise, Pavol Demitra scored his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
Chris Osgood made 21 saves in goal for the Blues, who are now unbeaten in three games (2-0-1), after enduring a 3-7-3 slide.
Olli Jokinen scored the lone goal for the Panthers, who are 1-2-1-1 in their last five games. Roberto Luongo made 32 saves in goal for the Panthers, two days after stopping 50 shots, the most in the NHL this season, in a 2-1 win over Tampa Bay.
Keith Tkachuk assisted on both goals for the Blues, who out-shot Florida 34-22.
In San Jose, Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves as the Sharks won their third straight game, downing the Detroit Red Wings 2-1. Niko Dimitrakos had a goal and an assist for San Jose.
In Tampa, Milan Hejduk scored his second goal of the game 59 seconds into overtime on a penalty shot, giving the Colorado Avalanche a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It marked just the third time that an NHL game ended in overtime on a penalty shot.
In Nashville, Tomas Vokoun made 26 saves as the Predators blanked the Minnesota Wild 2-0. The Predators are now unbeaten in seven games.
In Anaheim, Craig Conroy had four assists, leading the Calgary Flames past the Mighty Ducks 5-1. Calgary ended a nine-game winless streak in Anaheim (0-6-3) with the victory.
In Vancouver, David Oliver scored his first goal of the season to lead the Dallas Stars past the Canucks 3-2. Richard Matvichuk added a pair of assists for the Stars.
