NEW YORK, 21 February 2004 — Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist in his first game back from a groin injury to lead the struggling New York Rangers to a 6-2 win over the New York Islanders in National Hockey League play on Thursday.
Mike Dunham made 30 saves in goal for the Rangers, who won the fight-filled game against their bitter rivals. The Rangers have won all five meeting with the Islanders this season, but still trail them by 11 points in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The Rangers are 7-0-2 in their last nine games against the Islanders. Jagr missed two games with his injury but it did not take him long to make his presence felt, as he assisted on Mark Messier’s goal just 2:24 into the game.
Bobby Holik also had a goal and an assist for the Rangers. Petr Nedved, Matthew Barnaby and Alex Kovalev scored the other goals for the Rangers, while Tom Poti added four assists for New York.
Justin Papineau had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, while Mattias Weinhandl scored the other goal for the losers. There were several fights in the game, including a major brawl with less than four minutes left in the third period.
In Washington, Olaf Kolzig stopped 43 shots as trade rumors continue to revolve around him, giving the Capitals a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Kolzig is 4-2-2 in his last eight starts for the lowly Capitals.
Numerous teams are reportedly interested in acquiring the veteran goalie, as the Capitals continue to unload their star players after trading Peter Bondra to Ottawa on Wednesday.
In Ottawa, Shawn McEachern scored on a powerplay at 1:12 of overtime to give the Atlanta Thrashers a 3-2 win over the Senators. The loss ended Ottawa’s five-game unbeaten streak since the All-Star break and was costly, as the Senators fell a point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings.
In Raleigh, Darcy Tucker scored 2:18 into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Mikael Tellqvist made 34 saves in goal for the Leafs in relief of Ed Belfour, who is still sidelined with a back injury.
In Montreal, Patrice Dagenais scored twice and back-up goalie Mathieu Garon made 19 saves as the Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 to end a four-game losing streak.
In Chicago, Marco Sturm had a goal and two assists as the San Jose Sharks beat the Blackhawks 6-3.
In Philadelphia, Patrice Bergeron scored the winner late in the second period to lead the Boston Bruins past the Flyers 4-3. John LeClair scored twice for the Flyers, who have lost three games in a row.
In St Louis, Doug Weight scored at 1:06 of overtime to lead the Blues past the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3.
In St Paul, Marc Chouinard scored a pair of goals to lead the Minnesota Wild past the Vancouver Canucks 6-2.
