Struggling Hasek finally chalks up first victory of NHL season

Ken Rappoport

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 10:18 a.m.

Although Dominik Hasek still isn't dominating, at least he has a victory.

The All-Star goalie known as the "Dominator" finally gained his first victory of the season with a 4-3 decision over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

"I'm glad we won, but I don't have a very good feeling after a game like this," Hasek said. "We played a very average team."

Actually, Hasek looked very average while going 0-4-1 before Wednesday night. His poor performance in the first month of the season earned him a benching by Sabres coach Lindy Ruff.

A lot more was expected of Hasek, particularly since he has won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie five of the last six years, and has announced that this will be his last season in the NHL.

"Dom was more like Dom tonight," Sabres defenseman Jason Woolley said. "He was very vocal."

While Hasek was winning his first game, so were the Chicago Blackhawks. They beat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0.

Elsewhere, it was Toronto 4, Atlanta 0; New Jersey 2, St. Louis 1; Florida 6, New York Islanders 3; Detroit 5, Colorado 3; and Anaheim 2, Pittsburgh 1 in overtime.

Hasek allowed three goals in a span of 3:28 in the second period as Tampa Bay went up 3-2, but Curtis Brown tied it for Buffalo late in the period and James Patrick got the game-winner with 5:13 to play on an unassisted goal.

Michal Grosek and Michael Peca also scored for Buffalo. Chris Gratton scored a goal and had two assists, and Stan Drulia and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for Tampa Bay.

Hasek was booed by fans at the Marine Midland Arena when he gave up his third goal. But Hasek made some big saves late in the game, finishing with 15 stops overall.

"When the game was on the line in the third he made a few fabulous saves," Ruff said. "It was important for his confidence."

Blackhawks 1, Canadiens 0

Tony Amonte scored the only goal and Jocelyn Thibault made 29 saves as Chicago won at Montreal.

Amonte's second-period goal stood as the winner as the Blackhawks (1-4-4) avoided setting a team record by going winless in their first nine games. They started 0-7-1 in 1953-54.

The Blackhawks were the last NHL team to win a game.

The Canadiens lost their fourth in a row and are off to their worst start ever at home at 1-5-0.

Maple Leafs 4, Thrashers 0

Dmitri Khristich scored two goals and Glenn Healy stopped 16 shots for his 12th career shutout as Toronto beat visiting Atlanta.

Mike Johnson had a goal and an assist and Alexander Karpovtsev also scored for the Leafs, who won their third straight and remained first overall in the NHL with an 8-3-1 record.

Healy was making his third start of the season, giving Curtis Joseph the night off. His toughest test came against Denny Lambert on a goal-mouth scramble midway through the second period.

Devils 2, Blues 1

Randy McKay and Brian Rolston scored in a 2:50 span bridging the first and second periods as New Jersey defeated visiting St. Louis to snap the Blues' four-game winning streak.

Martin Brodeur had 23 saves and came within 3:50 of gaining his second shutout of the season before giving up a goal to Scott Young.

The win ended the Devils' two-game losing streak, which included a 3-1 loss to the Blues in St. Louis on Saturday night.

Panthers 6, Islanders 3

Pavel Bure scored two goals in his first action in two weeks as the Florida won at home over the Islanders.

Bure and Mark Parrish each scored twice as the Panthers snapped a two-game losing streak. The six goals were the most by Florida this season.

Bure has five goals and four assists in five games this season. It was Bure's first action since suffering a groin injury against Montreal on Oct. 12, forcing him to miss five games.

Red Wings 5, Avalanche 3

Brendan Shanahan scored two goals as Detroit beat Colorado in the season's first renewal of one of the NHL's fiercest rivalries.

Vyacheslav Kozlov, Tomas Holmstrom and Darren McCarty also scored for the Red Wings, who have won five straight and are unbeaten in seven games since their lone loss Oct. 5 against Dallas.

Adam Deadmarsh scored two goals and Shjon Podein another as the Avalanche fell to 2-2 on a four-game road trip that ends tonight at Philadelphia.

The game was the first meeting between the teams since Colorado ousted Detroit in six games in last season's Western Conference semifinals.

Mighty Ducks 2, Penguins 1, OT

Teemu Selanne's goal 3:38 into overtime boosted Anaheim past visiting Pittsburgh.

Selanne, who earlier in the game misfired on a penalty-shot opportunity, beat Jean-Sebastien Aubin for his fifth goal of the season for the Ducks (5-5-1), who had been the only team with a losing record in the Pacific Division.

Selanne's clean score off assists by Oleg Tverdovsky and Jason Marshall ruined a brilliant performance by Aubin, who stopped 35 shots in his first start of the season.

Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr snapped a scoreless tie with an unassisted goal at 11:45 of the second period. Marty McInnis tied it about three minutes later, sneaking a slow shot through Aubin's legs.