Sean Burke is making the Phoenix Coyotes realize how much they missed him.
Burke made 40 saves to win for the fourth time in four games since returning from a sprained ankle as Phoenix snapped Detroit's nine-game unbeaten streak with a 4-1 victory on Friday night.
``We haven't lost since Burke's been back,'' Phoenix coach Bobby Francis. ``The team's playing well and the statement is -- we came in here and got a win.''
Burke missed 29 games with a sprained ankle, but is 4-0-0 with a shutout and has stopped 125 of 130 shots since returning. The Coyotes were 11-16-6-3 before he came back. Now, they're just one game under .500.
``He's one of those players who has the ability to bring the best out of his teammates,'' Detroit coach Dave Lewis said.
Ladislav Nagy had a goal and two assists, and Mike Johnson, Ramzi Abid and Daymond Langkow also scored for the visiting Coyotes.
``It's good for us,'' Nagy said. ``His first game back, we won 4-0. Everybody has confidence now.''
Sean Avery scored for the Red Wings, who were 6-0-3 in their previous nine.
Nagy broke a 1-1 tie with 1:47 left in the second period.
``After they got one by us, it was good to see that we came right back and got a big goal by Nagy,'' Francis said.
Johnson made it 3-1 when he put in Nagy's rebound 5:35 into the third, and Langkow added a goal with 1:49 left.
``They're not a young team, they're a team of veteran guys,'' Burke said. ``You've got to force them to come from behind.''
Avery tied it at 1 for Detroit with 3:53 left in the second, but Nagy made it 2-1 just over two minutes later.
``I didn't think we gave them enough credit,'' Detroit's Brendan Shanahan said. ``We came out like a team expecting an easy game.''
Devils 2, Maple Leafs 0
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, backup Corey Schwab made 17 saves for his fifth career shutout in New Jersey's victory over Toronto.
Jari Bicek broke a scoreless tie midway through the second, and Patrik Elias added an insurance goal with 1:29 remaining.
Schwab, a former Maple Leaf, got the start as Martin Brodeur got a rare night off. Schwab last played Dec. 7 in a 1-0 loss at Toronto.
Islanders 8, Bruins 4
At Uniondale, New York, Mark Parrish scored two of New York's four first-period goals and added a third as the Islanders stretched their winning streak to five.
New York, which scored six times on its first 12 shots, is over .500 for the first time this season at 17-16-5.
Jason Blake had two goals, and Dave Scatchard, Alexei Yashin and Mattias Weinhandl also scored for the Islanders, who got a season high in goals and 39 saves from Chris Osgood.
Glen Murray scored twice to reach 20 goals for the fourth time, and Jozef Stumpel and Michal Grosek also scored for the Bruins, who lost for the third time in four games and are 2-8-1 in their last 11.
Flyers 1, Mighty Ducks 0
At Anaheim, California, Robert Esche made 28 saves for his fifth career shutout, and Keith Primeau scored a power-play goal as Philadelphia snapped Anaheim's club-record six-game home winning streak.
Esche, who has both of the Flyers' shutouts in just 12 starts, lowered his goals-against average to 1.83 and has allowed more than two goals in only one of his last seven starts.
The loss was the fifth straight for the Ducks, who were shut out for the third time.
Sabres 6, Hurricanes 3
At Buffalo, New York, J.P. Dumont and Miroslav Satan each had two goals and an assist to help the Sabres snap a franchise-worst seven-game losing streak.
Stu Barnes and Curtis Brown also scored for Buffalo, which won for the first time since beating Boston 4-2 on Dec. 18.
Rod Brind'Amour, Bates Battaglia and Jeff O'Neill had goals for Carolina, which lost its fourth straight game and hasn't won since a 1-0 victory over Dallas on Dec. 22.
Penguins 4, Thrashers 1
At Atlanta, Steve McKenna and Dick Tarnstrom scored 2:37 apart early in the third period to lead Pittsburgh.
Mario Lemieux ended a two-game scoring drought with two assists, putting him five shy of 1,000 for his career.
Martin Straka and Shean Donovan also scored goals for the Penguins, who lost to Atlanta for the first time in franchise history on Monday night after a 14-0 start.
Marc Savard scored Atlanta's lone goal, his first since Oct. 22.
Capitals 2, Blue Jackets 2
At Washington, Sergei Gonchar scored his second goal of the game on a power play midway through the third period as Washington salvaged a tie for a share of the Southeast Division lead.
Gonchar beat a screened Marc Denis with a slap shot against the league's top penalty-killing team. He also gave Washington a 1-0 early in the first when he put in his own rebound.
The Capitals have picked up points in nine straight games, going 5-0-2-2 to improve to 18-16-4-2 overall. Ray Whitney and David Vyborny scored for Columbus, which has lost four straight road games and five of six overall.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was