Action for Original 6 teams for Tuesday 09/30/2008

Rangers defeat Swiss club SC Bern 8-1

BERN, Switzerland (AP) -The New York Rangers beat Swiss club Bern 8-1 Tuesday in an exhibition game.

Dan Girardi and Wade Redden each scored off the power play in the first period, and the Rangers then added six more after the hosts got their goal early in the final period.

The game, the Rangers’ first in Switzerland in 49 years, was scheduled as a warmup before the Rangers face European champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk at the same venue on Wednesday.

It will be the first meeting of NHL and Russian teams in 17 years and carries a $1 million prize under the banner of the inaugural Victoria Cup, organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation.

The Rangers then open the NHL season in Prague, Czech Republic, with a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Lighting this weekend.

Rangers coach Tom Renney said he hoped scoring six goals on power plays would jump-start his team’s offense after posting a 1-5 record in preseason games in the United States.

“We are still a work in progress,” Renney said. “We haven’t scored a lot of goals on even strength as a group.

“We play Tampa Bay in Prague for four points. Not far from now we have to pay attention to improving ourselves to do that successfully.”

Renney said he challenged his players to step up their form in the final period.

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Wings fall to Habs 2-1 in shootout

MONTREAL (AP) -Max Pacioretty and Robert Lang scored in the shootout to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 preseason win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Pacioretty, who scored Montreal’s only goal in regulation, deked Jimmy Howard and beat the Detroit goalie with a backhander. Lang scored on a backhander on the Canadiens’ second attempt.

Red Wings forward Ville Leino beat Carey Price with a shot inside the right post to open the shootout, but the Canadiens goalie stopped Marian Hossa and Valtteri Filppula in succession to give Montreal (5-2-0) the win.

Pacioretty, bidding to make his NHL debut after one season at the University of Michigan, gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 4:42 into the second period.

“Every time he shows us something more, and we’ll have a difficult decision to make,” Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said.

Chosen 22nd overall with Montreal’s second first-round pick in 2007, the native of New Canaan, Conn., put a backhander past Howard for his first goal in five preseason games.

“I know that my first goal of the season each year has been in front of my parents,” said Pacioretty, who signed with Montreal in July.

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound left wing called his father at the family’s home in Connecticut earlier Tuesday after learning that he would be playing on a line with Lang and Alex Kovalev.

“He hopped in the car as soon as he got off the phone,” Pacioretty said.

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Wild stump Blackhawks 3-2 in Overtime

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -Stephane Veilleux scored his second goal of the game with 23.9 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 preseason victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

Veilleux tied the game with a power-play goal 3:30 into the third period. His high wrist shot beat goaltender Corey Crawford in overtime for the game-winner.

“I always have in mind to come to the rink and be hard to play against,” Veilleux said. “I play defense to always be there and be sharp defensively. When games are even, sometimes the two first lines are always expected to score. So, a guy like me that can step up and chip in a couple of goals that sometimes makes a difference down the road for the team.”

Colton Gillies, Minnesota’s first-round draft pick in 2007 who is trying to earn a roster spot, also scored for the Wild (3-1-0). Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for his third victory in the preseason.

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and Brent Seabrook added a power-play goal for Chicago (3-2-0), which was playing its third game in as many days. Kane has six points in four preseason games.

Crawford finished with 19 saves.

“Even though the results were not what we wanted, this was our best performance preseason,” Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. “We worked hard. We deserved better, period.”

Marc-Andre Bergeron, one of the Wild’s new acquisitions on defense, left the game late in the second period after a fight with Chicago’s Kyle Beach. Bergeron left the ice with blood on his face and didn’t return.

Minnesota’s Marian Gaborik made his first appearance of the preseason after sitting out three games with a quadriceps injury. Martin Havlat of the Blackhawks returned to the lineup for the first time since having shoulder surgery.

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