It’s Another Big Effort for Flyers in Victory

The Philadelphia Flyers used size to their advantage.

Simon Gagne had a goal and an assist as the Flyers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, Tuesday night at Tampa, Fla., in a matchup of early-season division leaders.

“They are a big team,” Tampa Bay Coach John Tortorella said. “It’s not the style of the Broad Street bullies. They’re a well-coached hockey club. They play under a strict team concept. They fill a lot of the ice with big bodies.”

Jeremy Roenick and John LeClair also scored for the Atlantic Division-leading Flyers, who have lost once in their last 11 games (8-1-2) against Tampa Bay.

The Flyers, who had tied their previous three games, ended a five-game winless streak. They had five goals over the stretch.

“We played a great hockey game tonight,” Philadelphia Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We played with a lot of emotion. We got good performance from our key players.”

Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 29 shots for the Southeast Division-leading Lightning, which fell to 7-1-0-1 at home. He kept the game close by making 25 saves through two periods.

San Jose 3, Washington 2 -- Evgeni Nabokov made 46 saves, frustrating the Capitals and leading the Sharks to victory at Washington.

Teemu Selanne, Patrick Marleau and Owen Nolan scored for the Sharks, who climbed out of last place in the Pacific Division.

Michael Nylander and Mike Grier scored for Washington, which had gone 129 minutes 20 seconds without a goal.

Atlanta 4, Florida 3 -- Shawn McEachern scored a power-play goal at 3:23 of overtime to give the Thrashers a come-from-behind victory at Atlanta.

Florida’s Olli Jokinen extended his scoring surge with a pair of shorthanded goals. His 11 goals ties his career high.

There was more good news for the Thrashers, who reached a tentative agreement on a contract with free-agent goalie Byron Dafoe.

Detroit 5, Calgary 0 -- Curtis Joseph made 29 saves at Calgary, Canada, for his second shutout of the season as the Red Wings won their fifth consecutive game.

Kirk Maltby had a goal and two assists, and Darren McCarty, Igor Larionov, Sergei Fedorov and Kris Draper also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

New Jersey 4, Buffalo 3 -- Scott Niedermayer scored 1:23 into overtime to give the Devils a victory at East Rutherford, N.J., which extended the Sabres’ winless streak to 12 games.

Oleg Tverdovsky, John Madden and Jeff Friesen also scored for the Devils, who overcame a 2-0 deficit.

Edmonton 3, Chicago 1 -- Ethan Moreau and Steve Staios scored shorthanded goals in the first period as the Oilers won at Edmonton, Canada. Staios’ goal was his second of the season, both shorthanded. He redirected a pass from Mike York.

Carolina 4, Ottawa 4 -- Bates Battaglia and Ron Francis scored 53 seconds apart early in the third period, and Rod Brind’Amour had a goal with eight minutes left as the Hurricanes earned a tie at Raleigh, N.C.

Toronto 2, Boston 0 -- Ed Belfour made 29 saves for his second shutout with the Maple Leafs in a victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins at Toronto.