NEW YORK, 23 February 2004 — Martin Havlat scored at 2:26 of the third period to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 home win over the Calgary Flames in National Hockey League play on Saturday. The game was the first of a nationally televised tripleheader on “Hockey Day in Canada” when the six Canadian based NHL teams play each other.
The day-long celebration has become an annual tradition in Canada and the broadcasts also feature other hockey events from around the country.
Montreal played at Toronto and Vancouver was at Edmonton in other games later in the day. Patrick Lalime made 18 saves in goal for the Senators, who have not lost in regulation time in eight games (5-0-1-2).
Bryan Smolinski scored the other goal for the Ottawa, which is in a fierce fight for first place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto, Philadelphia and Boston. “We knew we were in for a battle but we weren’t going to lay down for them,” Smolinski said. “It’s a great two points.”
Jordan Leopold scored the lone goal for the Flames, who have lost two straight since ending a four-game winning streak.
In Toronto, Mats Sundin, Tom Fitzgerald and Matthew Stajan all had a goal and an assist to lead the Maple Leafs to a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Nik Antropov and Joe Nieuwendyk scored the other goals for the Maple Leafs, who nearly squandered a 4-0 lead.
Pierre Dagenais, Steve Begin, Francois Bouillon and Michael Ryder scored for the Canadiens.
Mathieu Garon started in goal for the Canadiens but was pulled after allowing three first period goals on 11 shots. Rookie Mikael Tellqvist made 23 saves in goal for the Leafs as he again started for the injured Ed Belfour.
Belfour is out indefinitely with a back problem but is expected to play sometime in the next week.
In New York, Scott Gomez scored two goals and had three assists to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Patrik Elias added two goals and two assists for the Devils while the third member of the line, Brian Gionta added a goal and an assist to account for 11 points.
In Philadelphia, Simon Gagne scored on a penalty shot with 1:01 to play to lead the Flyers past the Atlanta Thrashers 5-4. Joni Pitkanen scored a pair of powerplay goals for the Flyers.
In Uniondale, Shawn Bates and Adrian Aucoin both had a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders dumped the Buffalo Sabres 4-1. Arron Asham and Cliff Ronning scored the other goals for the Islanders. Dmitri Kalinin replied for Buffalo.
In Washington, Sergei Gonchar scored in the third period to give the Capitals a 2-2 tie with the Florida Panthers. Robert Lang had a goal and an assist for Washington.
In Raleigh, Erik Cole’s third period goal gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-3 tie with the Boston Bruins. Josef Vasicek and Ron Francis scored the other Carolina goals.
In Phoenix, Steve Sullivan had a goal and three assists as the Nashville Predators crushed the Coyotes 8-2.
In Edmonton, Eric Brewer scored with 1:04 remaining in overtime to lead the Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
In Los Angeles, Ian Laperriere had two goals and one assist as the Kings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3. Sean Avery added a goal and an assist for Los Angeles.
