Robert Esche stops 21 shots as the Flyers improve to 4-1-3.
By The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – Michal Handzus and Joni Pitkanen each had a goal and assist and Robert Esche stopped 21 shots, leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

Justin Williams, Jeremy Roenick and John LeClair also had goals for Philadelphia, off to a 4-1-3 start. Mark Recchi, Tony Amonte and Simon Gagne added two assists apiece.

Viktor Kozlov scored for the Panthers, who have lost two of three.

Roenick and Handzus scored 59 seconds apart in the second period to break open a one-goal game.

Just 2:18 after Kozlov’s unassisted goal cut the Flyers’ lead to 2-1, Roenick slapped a shot past Panthers goaltender Steve Shields to make it 3-1.

Handzus then got a rebound off a shot by Gagne and stuffed it between Shields’ legs for a 4-1 lead. It was Philadelphia’s second power-play goal in two chances.

Williams scored with the man-advantage midway through the first period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. He took a crisp pass from Handzus and slipped it past Roberto Luongo, ending the goalie’s night.

Mighty Ducks 4,

Capitals 2

WASHINGTON – Sergei Federov scored two goals and Martin Gerber made 23 saves as the Anaheim Mighty Ducks beat the slumping Washington Capitals 4-2.

The Capitals lost their sixth straight and are winless in eight game since an opening-day victory. The losing streak is their longest since they dropped the final six games of the 1998-99 season.

Gerber has allowed four goals in three games in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who struggled in Anaheim’s early losses. Jason Krog and Steve Rucchin also scored for the Ducks.

Blues 6, Red Wings 5

DETROIT – Doug Weight had the second three-goal game of his career and Dallas Drake collected five assists as the St. Louis Blues held off the Detroit Red Wings 6-5.

Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek allowed four goals on St. Louis’ first 13 shots and was pulled early in the second period as Detroit’s club record 15-game home winning streak ended. Peter Sejna added two power-play goals for St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk had a power-play goal and Mike Danton had two assists. For the Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk, Steve Yzerman, Boyd Devereaux, Kris Draper and Brett Hull scored.

Penguins 4, Islanders 4

PITTSBURGH – Mario Lemieux became the sixth player in NHL history with 1,700 points with an assist that started a four-goal run by Pittsburgh, but the New York Islanders scored twice in the third period for a 4-4 tie.

With the Islanders up 2-0 late in the first, Lemieux took Konstantin Koltsov’s pass along the right wing boards, slipped the puck between the legs of defenseman Janne Niinimaa, then made a backhanded pass to the slot to Dick Tarnstrom for his second goal of the season.

Lemieux joins Wayne Gretzky (2,857), Gordie Howe (1,850), Mark Messier (1,847), Marcel Dionne (1,771) and Carolina Hurricanes captain Ron Francis (1,760s) on the 1,700-point list. Only Gretzky reached the mark faster than Lemieux.

Lemieux’s exceptional play not only halted what was threatening to become another Islanders’ rout of Pittsburgh, it began the Penguins on a run of four straight goals – a veritable flurry for a team that scored only four goals in its previous three games.

Stars 4, Flames 3, OT

DALLAS – Jason Arnott scored 17 seconds into overtime and Bill Guerin had three goals as the Dallas Stars rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Calgary led 3-1 when Guerin notched his second of the night on a power-play rebound with 10:32 left in regulation.

Guerin tied it with 8:35 remaining in regulation on a wrist shot from the left circle. It was his sixth goal of the season and completed his first hat trick for the Stars and the fourth of his career. Seconds after the overtime faceoff, Dallas’ Brenden Morrow got to the net from the left side, where his shot was stopped by Calgary goaltender Dany Sabourin, who was making his NHL debut.