Bowman Talks and the Red Wings Win

A little pep talk from Coach Scotty Bowman loosened them up. And when the timing was right, the Detroit Red Wings made the most of the situation.

Larry Murphy, Steve Yzerman and Tomas Holmstrom each scored during a 73-second span of the third period Saturday as the Red Wings ended a seven-game winless streak with a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We had felt like for the last three or four games, we were playing pretty well,” Yzerman said. “It wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm or effort that we were losing. But it was getting pretty frustrating.”

Bowman, who has guided Detroit to successive Stanley Cup championships, sensed that perhaps his players were trying too hard.

The Red Wings were 0-6-1 in their last seven games. The last time Detroit went winless in eight games was Jan. 12-30, 1991 (0-7-1).

Ottawa 6, New Jersey 0--Goaltender Damian Rhodes was credited with a goal and also made 31 saves at Kanata, Ontario, to lead the Senators to their first shutout of the season.

Rhodes became the first modern-era Ottawa goalie to be credited with a goal at 8:14 of the first period.

New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, who scored against Montreal during the 1997 playoffs, left the ice on a delayed obstruction-holding call against defenseman Jason York.

Devils defenseman Lyle Odelein sent the puck out from the corner back toward the point. It sailed past Scott Niedemayer, Brian Rolston and Dave Andreychuk into his own net, giving Ottawa a 2-0 lead. Rhodes was credited the goal because he was the last Ottawa player to touch the puck.

New York Rangers 1, St. Louis 0--Mike Richter got his third shutout this season and John MacLean scored the only goal give the Rangers the victory.

Although all 19,260 tickets were sold at the Kiel Center, there were 5,251 no-shows with many fans staying home rather than fighting an eight-inch snowfall that hit St. Louis.

Richter stopped 24 shots in his 21st shutout, which left him tied with 1920s goalie Lorne Chabot for sixth place on the Rangers’ career lost. Ed Giacomin, who played in the 1960s and ‘70s, leads the franchise with 41 shutouts.

San Jose 4, New York Islanders 3--Marco Sturm’s 25-foot slap shot at 1:47 of overtime gave the Sharks the victory at Uniondale, N.Y.

Mike Ricci scored twice for the Sharks, who are now 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Zigmund Palffy scored twice for the Islanders, who have lost four in a row and are 1-5-2 in their last eight.

Buffalo 7, Calgary 1--The Sabres gave slumping goaltender Dominik Hasek a break and stopped a three-game losing streak by beating the Flames at Buffalo.

Hasek, who started the Sabres’ first 33 games of the season, had given up 14 goals in Buffalo’s last three games.

Dwayne Roloson filled in and sent his former team to its sixth consecutive loss.

Pittsburgh 4, Florida 2--Tom Barrasso, playing his first game since straining his hip against Toronto on Dec. 21, had 14 saves at Sunrise, Fla., to earn career victory No. 335 and tie Gump Worsley for 10th place on the all-time list.

Washington 5, Toronto 2--Brian Bellows had a goal and assist, including the 1,000th point of his NHL career, to help the Capitals win at Toronto.

Carolina 4, Nashville 1--Sami Kapanen had two goals and an assist at Greensboro, N.C., as the Hurricanes extended the Predators’ losing streak to four games.

Montreal 2, Vancouver 1--Martin Rucinsky and Patrick Poulin scored goals and Jeff Hacket stopped 16 shots to give the Canadiens the victory at Vancouver.