ROUNDUP: DUCKS COME UP LAME IN 2ND.

Byline: Associated Press 

Keith Tkachuk had one goal and one assist - one of four Coyotes to do so - in his return from a fractured rib as Phoenix defeated the Mighty Ducks 5-1 Wednesday night in Anaheim.

The Coyotes scored five unanswered goals in the second period against Mikhail Shtalenkov, making his 12th straight start in place of injured Guy Hebert.

Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 26 shots for his 25th victory.

Tkachuk's 37th goal of the season and first since Feb. 25 tied the game 1-1 early in the second period, the start of Phoenix's five-goal barrage that chased Shtalenkov for the second straight game. Tom Askey, who stopped all seven shots after replacing Shtalenkov in the second period of Saturday's 5-3 loss at Colorado, took over for the third period and stopped 10 shots.

Detroit 2, Colorado 0: Sergei Fedorov scored two third-period goals and Chris Osgood won the battle of the goalies by punching out Patrick Roy, the highlight of a melee that broke out with 7:11 remaining, as the Red Wings won at Detroit.

It was reminiscent of the March 26, 1997 game at Joe Louis in which Darren McCarty bloodied Claude Lemiuex and Mike Vernon duked it out with Roy. Roy lost that fight, too. The Red Wings gathered momentum from that game, ousting Colorado from the playoffs a few weeks later during their drive to the Stanley Cup championship.

San Jose 3, Pittsburgh 2: Jeff Friesen scored on a shorthanded breakaway with 7:03 left in the third period to lead the Sharks, ending the Penguins' 10-game home unbeaten streak.

Friesen scored his fifth shorthanded goal to tie for the league lead as the Sharks ended a four-game trip 3-1 and closed within a point of Edmonton and Phoenix for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Carolina 4, New Jersey 0: Trevor Kidd made 37 saves to post his first shutout of the season and the Hurricanes moved within a point of a playoff berth in East Rutherford, N.J.

Ray Sheppard, Nelson Emerson, Gary Roberts and Jeff O'Neill scored as Carolina won its third straight on the road.

N.Y. Islanders 4, Tampa Bay 0: Wade Flaherty stopped 25 shots for his second career NHL shutout and Mariusz Czerkawski scored two goals for the third straight game as the Islanders prevailed at home.

Calgary 3, Dallas 1: Joel Bouchard had a shorthanded goal and an assist to lead the host Flames.

Cory Stillman and Jim Dowd had the other goals for the Flames. Sergei Zubov had Dallas' goal.

Boston 4, N.Y. Rangers 2: Dimitri Khristich scored a goal and assisted on two others to lead the visiting Bruins.

The Rangers extended their winless streak to seven games (0-6-1) as their playoff hopes have all but evaporated.

Montreal 4, Florida 3: The Canadiens scored two goals within 13 seconds in the third period, including Marc Bureau's second of the game, to cap a come-from-behind victory over the Panthers in Miami.

Vancouver 4, Edmonton 2: Arturs Irbe turned aside 42 shots and his teammates killed off 11 power plays as the Canucks won at home.

Irbe was solid, if not spectacular, in improving his record to 13-10-5 for the last-place Canucks.

St. Louis 6, Toronto 4: Geoff Courtnall and Terry Yake each had a goal and an assist to lead the Blues in Toronto.

Courtnall assisted on Pierre Turgeon's power-play goal with the Blues two men up in the first period and followed up with another power-play goal 70 seconds later to give the Blues a 3-1 lead after the first period.

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Photo

PHOTO Mighty Ducks' Mike Leclerc, left, and Phoenix's Oleg Tverdovsky play around the helmet of the Ducks' Josef Marha during the Coyotes win.

John Hayes / Associated Press