Rangers maintain hold over Hurricanes

Reuters, New York

The New York Rangers continued to toy with the 2002 Stanley Cup finalists, romping 5-1 over the Carolina Hurricanes in NHL action on Wednesday.

It was the Rangers' fourth win in four meetings with the Hurricanes this season and New York has outscored Carolina 14-3 in those victories.

Bobby Holik paced the Rangers with two goals on his bobblehead doll giveway night, with Jamie Lundmark notching his first NHL goal.

Matthew Barnaby opened the scoring for New York just 2:46 into the contest.

Eric Lindros got the Rangers' other marker; Jeff O'Neill countered for Carolina.

In Sunrise, Florida, Brett Hull got the game's initial marker and then struck again 1:34 into overtime to propel the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the struggling Florida Panthers.

Hull's first tally, his 16th of the season, came late in the second stanza.

His game winner came just 26 seconds after Florida's Viktor Kozlov hit the crossbar on a breakaway.

Marcus Nilson got the Panthers' only goal very early in the final frame.

Manny Legace turned back 28 of 29 shots to earn the win for Detroit; he is now 7-2-2.

Florida is winless in its past nine home games.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Columbus Blue Jackets rewarded new coach Doug MacLean with a victory, as they hung on to down the host Wild 2-1.

Five NHL teams have changed coaches this season and all five have won their first games under their new mentors.

Geoff Sanderson and Grant Marshall tallied for Columbus, with rookie Pierre-Marc Bouchard getting Minnesota's lone marker with just 8:28 remaining to spoil Marc Denis' shutout bid.

The Wild couldn't even manage a shot for a 23-minute stretch.

MacLean, Columbus's general manager, succeeded Dave King, the only coach in the Blue Jackets' brief history, on Tuesday.

He was runner-up to Scotty Bowman for coach of the year honors while with Florida in 1996.

In Chicago, the Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes had plenty of chances, but neither could notch a goal as they finished in a rare 0-0 draw.

In Vancouver, Markus Naslund became the NHL's first 30-goal man, scoring twice on the power play to lead the Canucks to a 6-4 win over the cash-strapped Ottawa Senators, who are said to be near bankruptcy despite their impressive record.

In Anaheim, Mike York got the game's only goal midway through the middle period as the Edmonton Oilers eked out a 1-0 win over the less-than-Mighty Ducks, who fell below .500 with the loss.