CHICAGO, 30 December 2003 — Michael Leighton made 20 saves for his second shutout in three games as the Chicago Blackhawks blanked the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 in one of just three games in the National Hockey League on Sunday.
Leighton posted the third shutout of his brief NHL career as the Blackhawks won for just the third time in their past 23 games, with two of the wins coming against Detroit.
The Red Wings are just 1-2-1 in their past four games and have scored just four goals in those games, even though they still lead the league in goals scored.
Leighton made several key saves with the Wings on the power play, as Detroit was 0-for-6 with the extra man. The Wings have not scored in their last 20 power play opportunities.
Nathan Dempsey, Tuomo Ruutu and Deron Quint scored the goals for Chicago.Manny Legace made 25 saves in goal for the Red Wings.
Senators 5 Thrashers 2
In Ottawa, Marian Hossa scored a pair of goals to lead the Senators to a 5-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Hossa was awarded his second goal when Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk threw his stick at Hossa’s attempt at scoring an open net goal, resulting in an automatic goal for the Ottawa player.
Daniel Alfredsson, Karel Rachunek and Chris Phillips also scored for the Senators, while Patrick Lalime made 21 saves in goal. Ottawa is now unbeaten in six games (4-0-2).
Flames 2 Oilers 1
In Edmonton, Jarome Iginla’s third period goal was the winner as the Calgary Flames edged the Oilers 2-1.
Dean McAmmond scored the other Calgary goal while Miikka Kiprusoff made 20 stops in goal for the winners.
Mike York had the lone goal for the Oilers, who were coming off a 6-2 win at Vancouver on Saturday.
