Once Again, Fedorov Stars for Detroit Against Dallas

Sergei Fedorov seems to turn his game up a notch against the Dallas Stars.

The Detroit center scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period and added a short-handed goal 10:01 later to send the Red Wings to a 5-3 victory over the Stars Sunday night at Dallas.

Fedorov, playing his second game after sitting out five in a row with a thumb injury, has 25 goals in 50 games against the Stars, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

“It’s always an intense game against them,” Fedorov said. “It’s not easy to play against a team like that. They’re physical so you have to concentrate on every play. That helps you stay focused.”

After Fedorov made it 2-1 at 9:43 of the second, Pat Verbeek, who played for Dallas last season, gave the Red Wings a two-goal lead at 11:21.

“It’s nice to beat them,” said Verbeek, after the Red Wings improved to 4-1-1 in their six games to remain ahead of the Stars in the Western Conference.

The Stars, the league’s second-best defensive team, have not allowed more than five goals in a game this season. Detroit was the third team to get that many.

Dallas penalty killer Guy Carbonneau bruised his wrist in the second period and did not return. He is listed as day-to-day. The Stars were also missing injured players Joe Nieuwendyk, Jere Lehtinen, Blake Sloan, Shawn Chambers and Brian Skrudland.

While the Stars were disappointed to lose at home to Detroit, they do own recent wins over the Red Wings and other playoff contenders Colorado, Philadelphia and Phoenix. Dallas leads the Pacific Division, seven points ahead of Phoenix.

Chicago 7, Phoenix 3--The Blackhawks wasted little time in beating the Coyotes at Chicago, scoring four times during a 6:51 span in the first period.

Tony Amonte had two goals and an assist for the second straight game and linemate Alex Zhamnov had a goal and three assists as the Blackhawks won for the fourth time in five games.

Bob Essensa started in goal for Phoenix, but was replaced by Sean Burke at the start of the second period after allowing four goals on 11 shots.

Washington 2, Buffalo 1--The Capitals, who have earned a point in 13 of their last 14 home games, moved into a four-way for second place in the Eastern Conference at 80 points with Florida, Philadelphia and Toronto.

Olaf Kolzig, who made 28 saves, lost his shutout with 10 seconds left when Stu Barnes flipped the puck past him during a scramble in front of the net.

New Jersey 2, Calgary 2--Patrik Elias scored with 11:03 left in the third period to cap the Devils’ rally from a two-goal deficit at Calgary.

The goal came less than a minute after Martin Brodeur had stopped Valeri Bure on a breakaway. Brodeur preserved the tie stopping a breakaway by Jarome Iginla with 10 seconds left.

Iginla extended his point streak to an NHL season-high 16 games with an assist on Marc Savard’s first-period goal. Iginla, who has 12 goals and 14 assists in the stretch, tied Gary Suter and Gary Roberts for the Flames’ franchise record.

New York Islanders 4, Philadelphia 3--Mariusz Czerkawski assisted on the tying goal late in regulation and then scored in overtime as the Islanders won for the first time in their last nine games (1-6-2) at Philadelphia.

Czerkawski scored on a wrist shot from between the hash marks :59 into the overtime period after setting up Jamie Rivers with 2:55 left in the third period. Rivers had gone 72 games without a goal.

Around the League

Despite attempts to trade him to a contender, Ray Bourque is expected to be in uniform for Boston when the Bruins play the Ottawa Senators tonight. General Manager Harry Sinden told WBZ-AM on Sunday that the 39-year-old defenseman attracted interest from several teams. But he said it could take until the March 14 trading deadline, if a deal can be worked out at all.