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Panthers interrupt Sabres' streak

Alexander Ovechkin, left, of the Capitals scores in a shootout against Michael Garnett of the Thrashers at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday. Washington won 6-5. PHOTO: AFP

Jozef Stumpel scored two goals to help the Florida Panthers beat Buffalo 4-1 on Thursday, snapping the Sabres' seven-game winning streak and ending goalie Martin Biron's 13-game NHL winning streak.

It was a good day for Stumpel, who was also named to Slovakia's Olympic team.

"It's exciting and maybe it gave me a lift," said Stumpel, of making the Turin roster. "It was great to get a couple goals."

The Sabres had also won nine consecutive road games, one short of the league record set by the Sabres in 1983-1984 and matched by the St. Louis Blues in 2000 and the New Jersey Devils in 2001. Buffalo last lost on the road in Ottawa on Nov. 12. The loss to the Senators was Biron's last defeat.

"I made a mistake on their second goal to give the puck up on the wall," Biron said. "I'll take the blame for that. They created the chances and created more opportunities and they got the goals."

Rostislav Olesz and Olli Jokinen also had goals for Florida and Roberto Luongo had 27 saves. Thomas Vanek scored for Buffalo and Biron had 26 saves.

Rangers 4, Lightning 2

At New York, Tom Poti scored New York's third power-play goal with just 1:48 left and the Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Tampa Bay.

Poti, who has heard boos from the home crowd all season long, fired a slap shot from the slot for his first goal of the season. That rescued the Rangers, who blew a two-goal lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions earlier in the period.

Tampa Bay has lost three straight, and four of its last five.

Martin Rucinsky had an empty-net goal and two assists, and fellow Czech Republic Olympians Petr Prucha and Martin Straka also scored for New York, which only netted four goals in the losing streak that took place entirely at home.

Flyers 4, Senators 3

At Philadelphia, Simon Gagne celebrated his return to the Philadelphia lineup with a goal and an assist to help the Flyers top Ottawa.

Gagne, who missed five games with a strained groin, converted on a power play off a give-and-go with Peter Forsberg to give the Flyers a 4-0 lead at 9:08 of the second period.

Mike Knuble, Sami Kapanen, and R.J. Umberger also scored for the Flyers, who have beaten the Senators twice in a season for the first time since going 4-0 in 1997-1998.

Philadelphia won the first meeting this season at Ottawa on Oct. 30.

Zdeno Chara, Antoine Vermette, and Mike Fisher scored goals for the Senators, who have dropped three of their last four games.

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 1

At Boston, Alexei Zhamnov got the tiebreaking goal, his first score of the season, and Hannu Toivonen stopped 26 shots to lead the Bruins over Toronto.

Travis Green, Keith Primeau and Brad Stuart also scored, and Brian Leetch had three assists as Boston won for the second time in its last seven games at home.

The Bruins improved to 3-1-1 against the Maple Leafs this season.

Toronto, the league's third-highest scoring team in power-play opportunities, was 0-for-9 with the man advantage. Toivonen stopped two-man advantages in each of the first two periods.

Mariusz Czerkawsi scored the Maple Leafs' lone goal.

Capitals 6, Thrashers 5, SO

At Atlanta, rookie Alexander Ovechkin scored the only goal in a shootout to lift Washington past Atlanta.

After Washington's Andrew Cassels and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk had shots blocked to lead off the shootout, Ovechkin's shot over Atlanta goaltender Michael Garnett's glove gave the Capitals the lead.

Marian Hossa, who tied a Thrashers record with five points, and Slava Kozlov had shots stopped by Washington goaltender Brent Johnson to leave the Thrashers scoreless in the shootout.

Jeff Halpern, Brooks Laich, Mathieu Biron and Dainius Zubrus also had goals for the Capitals.

Hossa had a goal and four assists for Atlanta. Kovalchuk, Kozlov, Marc Savard and Andy Sutton also had goals for the Thrashers.

Coyotes 2, Sharks 1

At Glendale, Arizona, Mike Comrie scored a power-play goal with 17:08 remaining to help Phoenix edge San Jose, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Jamie Lundmark also scored a power-play goal for the Coyotes, who won for the first time since coach Wayne Gretzky took an indefinite leave of absence on Dec. 17 to be with his ailing mother who died on Monday.

Patrick Marleau had an unassisted goal for the Sharks, who lost for the second time in nine games.

The Czech Republic named its 23-man squad Thursday for the Winter Olympics in Turin, led by New York Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr and Ottawa Senators veteran goaltender Dominik Hasek.

Other stars were forwards Milan Hejduk of the Colorado Avalanche and Robert Lang of the Detroit Red Wings, and Nashville Predators goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Jagr, Hasek, Hejduk and Lang were among eight of coach Alois Hadamczik's picks from the 1998 Olympic gold-medal team in Nagano, Japan. The others were New York Rangers forwards Martin Rucinsky and Martin Straka, Chicago Black Hawks defenseman Jaroslav Spacek and goaltender Milan Hnilicka. All but one of the team play in the NHL.

SWEDEN

Coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson announced his roster for the Turin Games, with forward Mika Hannula and defenseman Niklas Kronwall the most surprising inclusions.

Kronwall, of the Detroit Red Wings, was injured early October and underwent successful ACL surgery.

"He's been on ice and is back in training," Gustafsson said. "The question is if he'll be ready for the Olympics. We have done this to avoid eliminating another player from the squad if Kronwall can play. If he can't play, we'll pick another player."

Hannula has been one of the best forwards this season for HV 71 in the Swedish Elite League.

"He has showed that he can contribute a lot to this squad," Gustafsson said.

Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be captain for one of the tournament favorites.

FINLAND

Finland named its 23-man rosterfor the Winter Olympics, including NHL veterans Jere Lehtinen, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.

Renowned defender Lehtinen has been in top offensive form for Dallas, Selanne has shown goal-scoring form for Anaheim, and captain and center Koivu has led Montreal to a playoff spot.

The 32-year-old Koivu's younger brother, Mikko, a forward for Minnesota, is also on the roster.

Head coach Erkka Westerlund named 20 NHL players.

Kiprusoff OUT

Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff withdrew from Finland's Olympic ice hockey team on Thursday, citing advice from doctors to rest a hip injury.

Kiprusoff has inflammation of the hip and will use the time during the Olympics to help heal the injury.

"It is in the best interest of the Calgary Flames that I use this opportunity to ensure I am totally recovered for the NHL playoff drive," Kiprusoff said in a statement. "I have always been very proud to represent my country in international competition and I'm disappointed that I will not be joining them at the Olympics in Italy."

Kiprusoff was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie in 2003-2004 when he led the Flames to the Stanley Cup final.
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