Taylor Gets Up, Puts Flames Down

Tim Taylor got some quick revenge on the Calgary Flames.

The Flames nearly knocked Taylor out of the game on his first shift Monday night, but saw him return and score the winning goal to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 victory at New York.

Taylor took a blindside hit from Denis Gauthier in the first minute that sidelined him for the rest of the period, but he returned in the second and then won the game 32 seconds into overtime.

Taylor’s heroics would not have been possible without Adam Graves, who tied the score with 35.2 seconds remaining in regulation time.

“I think as a team we are really finding our mix,” Taylor said. “In the last three games, we are fighting for every inch and we are realizing as a team that we are not going to win if we don’t.”

Taylor took a cross-ice pass from Alexandre Daigle, who assisted on all three Ranger goals, knocked the bouncing puck to the ice in the left faceoff circle and beat Calgary goaltender Fred Brathwaite low to the stick side for his fifth goal.

Colorado 5, Vancouver 2--Sandis Ozolinsh scored three goals for the first hat trick of his career and Patrick Roy stopped 23 shots at Denver as the Avalanche moved into first place in the Northwest Division.

Toronto 3, Buffalo 2--Steve Thomas’ goal 65 seconds into overtime capped the Maple Leafs’ rally from a two-goal deficit at Toronto.

Thomas intercepted a behind-the-net clearing pass by Michael Peca, circled the net and beat Dwayne Roloson with a low shot between the legs for his fourth goal. Thomas was almost the goat for Toronto, taking a boarding penalty with 1:29 to play in regulation.

Nashville 4, Atlanta 3--Randy Robitaille, who never got a chance to play with the Thrashers, scored at 2:26 of overtime to lift the Predators at Atlanta.

Ville Peltonen stole the puck from David Harlock in the Thrashers’ zone and fed a cross-ice pass to Robitaille, who easily scored his fourth goal of the season, slipping the shot past goaltender Norm Maracle.

Robitaille was acquired by the Thrashers in an expansion-draft trade, but was dealt to Nashville before playing a game for Atlanta.

Chicago 5, Edmonton 1--Steve Passmore made 24 saves and the Blackhawks got goals from five players at Chicago.

Phoenix 3, Dallas 2--Only 26 seconds after Trevor Letowski pulled the Stars even, Jeremy Roenick scored the winner with 2:59 to play at Dallas.

San Jose 3, Tampa Bay 3--Owen Nolan scored two goals and Dan Cloutier made four saves in overtime to help the Sharks to a tie at San Jose.

Around the League

Goaltender Tom Barrasso of the Pittsburgh Penguins drew a four-game suspension for slashing Yanic Perreault of the Toronto Maple Leafs and breaking his left arm. Perreault was tied with Mats Sundin for the Maple Leafs’ team lead in points when Barrasso slashed him in the second period of Toronto’s 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night. . . . Right wing Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals will be sidelined up to three weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. . . . The Phoenix Coyotes signed Teppo Numminen to a $13.5-million contract extension, ensuring they will retain the services of the all-star defenseman through the 2002-2003 season.