Nashville ends Flyers hex - Rangers still can't solve Senators

The Predators, backed by goals from Cliff Ronning and Robert Valicevic in a 2:20 span of the first period, defeated the host Flyers 3-1 Thursday night. Nashville, which joined the National Hockey League two seasons ago, was 0-3-1 in its young history against Philadelphia.

"We weren't thinking about the streak," said Ronning, who made it 1-0. "We just wanted to get out of here with a win."

The Senators, who beat New York 6-5, must have the Rangers shaking their heads about their failure to win at Ottawa.

Goals by Theo Fleury, Adam Graves, Michal Grosek, Jan Hlavac and Petr Nedved weren't enough for the Rangers, winless in their last eight games (0-7-1) there. The Senators, who erased three one-goal leads, last lost to New York on Dec. 5, 1998, at the Corel Centre.

"I'm very happy with our effort, with the intensity we brought into the game," Rangers captain Mark Messier said. "The Senators skate well."

In other NHL games, it was Boston 5, Chicago 4; Los Angeles 5, Atlanta 2; Toronto 5, New Jersey 3; and St. Louis 2, Washington 0.

New York's latest defeat at the hands of the Senators came after the Rangers posted convincing home wins over Boston and Tampa Bay.

"I thought this might have been the best game we've played," Rangers coach Ron Low said. "This is a tough opponent. You score five goals, you should walk out with a win."

Magnus Arvedson and Igor Kravchuk scored 33 seconds apart in the third period to turn a tie into a 6-4 Senators lead. Marian Hossa had two goals and rookie Martin Havlat and Rob Zamuner also scored for Ottawa.

"It was exciting," Hossa said. "Sometimes you have to stay in the right place and let the puck come to you."

Nashville's Vitali Yachmenev scored into an empty net with 12.7 seconds as the Predators snapped a five-game (0-2-2-1) winless streak.

"We really didn't care too much about Philadelphia's streak," said Tom Fitzgerald, who set up Valicevic's goal. "We were all playing with confidence and just didn't want this one to slip away. This should be a good learning experience for us."

Luke Richardson scored the only goal for the Flyers, who had their four-game (2-0-2) unbeaten string broken.

"We came out flat," Flyers defenseman Daniel McGillis said. "We weren't playing our defensive zone and we were giving up that neutral zone. I thought they took us apart pretty good." It was just a long time coming as far as the Predators were concerned.

Maple Leafs 5, Devils 3

Jonas Hoglund scored twice in the third period as Toronto defeated visiting New Jersey. Yanic Perreault, Shayne Corson and Cory Cross also scored for the Maple Leafs.

John Madden scored twice and Alexander Mogilny added a goal for the Devils, who had a six-game unbeaten streak snapped.¤

Bruins 5, Blackhawks 4

Mikko Eloranta scored with 1:29 left and Jason Allison had two goals and two assists as Boston ended a three-game losing streak with a home victory over Chicago. Eloranta scored just 36 seconds after Chicago's Tony Amonte tied it 4-4. The Blackhawks' three victories this season have come against the two expansion teams, Columbus and Minnesota. Chicago is 0-7-0-1 against the rest of the NHL. Sergei Samsonov had three assists for the Bruins.

Kings 5, Thrashers 2

Jamie Storr made 22 saves as Los Angeles ended a two-game losing streak with a victory at Atlanta. Bob Corkum, Mathieu Schneider, Steven Reinprecht, Jozef Stumpel and Rob Blake scored for the Kings, and Ziggy Palffy had three assists.

The Thrashers' franchise-record four-game unbeaten streak (1-0-3) was stopped as they went 0-for-8 on the power play.

Blues 2, Capitals 0

Rookie Brent Johnson stopped 30 shots as St. Louis beat Washington, extending the Blues' winning streak to seven. The shutout was Johnson's second both this season in 11 career games. St. Louis is 10-2-1 this season, tying the best start in franchise history set in 1997.

Johnson has won all five of his starts this season and has allowed three goals in three starts at Savvis Center. Pavol Demitra and Scott Young scored for the Blues, who were outshot 16-8 in the third period.

(AP)