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Thrashers cheat the NJ Devils

Atlanta Thrashers winger Dany Heatley, right, celebrates as New Jersey Devils winger Patrik Elias skates by after Heatly scored on Devils goalie Martin Brodeur during the third period of their game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Friday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dany Heatley scored on a power play with 5:48 left, and the Atlanta Thrashers overcame the benching of leading scorer Ilya Kovalchuk with a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Kovalchuk, whose 33 goals was tied for the league lead heading into Friday's action, was disciplined by coach Bob Hartley for missing a team meeting earlier in the day.

"Regardless of [whether] Kovy is in the lineup or not, we can't expect him to score all our goals every night," said Garnet Exelby, who got his first NHL goal.

"We are going to have to help him once in a while."

Patrik Stefan also scored and Pasi Nurminen had 15 saves as the Thrashers ended a two-game losing streak and spoiled the 1,000th game for New Jersey Devils coach Pat Burns.

Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias scored for New Jersey, who put up a lackluster effort while having their three-game winning streak ended.

"They have a good team, but a lot of this had to do with the start," Gionta said. "We were sleeping there for a while."

Capitals 4, Panthers 1

In Sunrise, Florida, Brian Willsie scored the first of four third-period goals for Washington in a victory over Florida.

Willsie's goal snapped Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo's shutout streak at a club-record 182 minutes, 37 seconds. Luongo faced 29 shots, 12 in the third period.

Kip Miller, Alexander Semin and Mike Grier each scored for the Capitals, and Olaf Kolzig made 28 saves.

Mike Van Ryn scored for the Panthers, who lost for the first time in six games (3-1-2).

Islanders 4, Sabres 2

In Buffalo, New York, Oleg Kvasha had a goal and two assists, helping New York beat Buffalo.

Mariusz Czerkawski and Mattias Weinhandl each had a goal and assist, and Roman Hamrlik also scored as the eighth-place Islanders moved eight points up on the Sabres in the race for the Eastern Conference's final playoff berth. New York also inched to within a point of idle Montreal.

Rick Dipietro made a career-high 42 saves for New York, which completed a four-game season-series sweep of Buffalo.

Chris Drury and J.P. Dumont each had a goal and assist for Buffalo, losers of three straight since ending a six-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1).

Stars 3, Wild 1

In Dallas, Stu Barnes' short-handed goal with 8:37 left broke a tie and helped Dallas stretch its home unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3) with a win over Minnesota.

With Stars left wing Brenden Morrow in the penalty box for slashing, Dallas defenseman Jon Klemm took possession of the puck and passed it in the slot to Barnes, who one-timed a shot past Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez for a 2-1 advantage.

Andrew Brunette put the Wild in front 35 seconds into the second period, before Philippe Boucher pulled the Stars even at 13:17.

Bill Guerin knocked in the rebound of his own shot with 5:43 left in the third, his 25th goal of the season, to close the scoring.

Minnesota lost for the fourth time in six games (1-4-1). Fernandez, winless in his last 11 decisions (0-5-6), had 28 saves.

Blue Jackets 4, Blackhawks 3

In Chicago, Luke Richardson scored his first goal in 183 games with 2:51 left in the third period, and Columbus beat Chicago to end its five-game losing streak.

Richardson scored from 50 feet out on a wrist shot through traffic that beat Michael Leighton on the glove side.

He last scored on Dec. 8, 2001, while with Philadelphia.

David Vyborny, Geoff Sanderson and Tim Jackman each had a goal and an assist for Columbus, which rallied from a 3-1 deficit. Jackman's points were his first in the NHL.

Chicago's Kyle Calder and Bryan Berard each had a goal and assist. Brett McLean also scored for the Blackhawks.

Columbus goalie Fred Brathwaite made 33 saves. Leighton made 25.

Oilers 7, Coyotes 2

In Glendale, Arizona, Ethan Moreau scored twice to cap a franchise-record five goals in a span of 5:38 to lead Edmonton over Phoenix.

Ryan Smyth, Shawn Horcoff, Adam Oates and Fernando Pisani had a goal and an assist apiece for the Oilers, who moved within seven points of idle Los Angeles for the Western Conference's final playoff spot. Marc-Andre Bergeron added a goal and Ales Hemsky had a pair of assists for Edmonton.

Jeff Taffe and Jan Hrdina scored for the Coyotes, winless in two games under interim coach Rick Bowness.

Phoenix, 2-10-2-2 in its last 14 and a Western Conference-worst 10-14-5-3 at home, has allowed 20 goals in its last four games.

Sharks 4, Penguins 2

In San Jose, California, Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist and the Sharks handed Pittsburgh its 18th loss in 20 games.

Brad Stuart, Tom Preissing and Alexander Korolyuk also scored for San Jose, which improved to 8-1-1 over their last 10.

Konstantin Koltsov and Milan Kraft scored third-period goals for the Penguins, who became the first team to be officially eliminated from playoff contention.
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