When the Philadelphia Flyers traded center Mike Comrie to Phoenix on Monday for goalie Sean Burke, they were five deep at center.
Suddenly, they’re three deep, and perhaps a bit more interested in the Blackhawks’ Alex Zhamnov.
In a span of 32 seconds in the third period of Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the New York Rangers, the visiting Flyers lost their top two centers–Jeremy Roenick and Keith Primeau.
An exam found that Roenick, playing with a sore left hamstring, suffered a fractured left jaw when he was hit with a slapshot by Rangers defenseman Boris Mironov about five minutes into the final period.
Roenick had missed 3 1/2 weeks with a similar injury in April 1999 when Dallas’ Derian Hatcher broke his jaw in retaliation for Roenick’s hit on Mike Modano earlier in the season.
Primeau has a possible concussion after a questionable hit by Rangers center Bobby Holik.
Roenick lay bleeding on the ice and didn’t move for several minutes as trainers immobilized his jaw. His face was covered with blood as he was helped off the ice. He then sat on a stretcher before being taken to St. Vincent Hospital via ambulance.
Roenick saw the shot coming and tried to turn away, but couldn’t.
“My jaw is unstable, my head clear,” Roenick, still in pain, said from the hospital, where he was expected to spend at least the night. “I’ll get my jaw wired up and, hopefully, won’t be out too long.”
He said he was unconscious for a minute and woke up spitting blood but wasn’t choking. He waved to fans from the stretcher to acknowledge their standing ovation.
“It’s not often you get cheered in Madison Square Garden,” he said. “The fans showed a lot of class.”
Joseph out at least a week
Red Wings goalie Curtis Joseph will miss at least a week with a sprained right ankle and was put on injured reserve Thursday. Detroit replaced him on the roster by calling up Marc Lamothe from Grand Rapids of the AHL.
It was Detroit’s first game since goalie Dominik Hasek said he would miss the rest of the season.
RESULTS, THURSDAY’S SYNOPSIS
Washington 3 at Carolina 3
Pavel Brendl scored late in 3rd to lift Hurricanes into tie. Marty Murray and Sean Hill also scored for Carolina, which outshot Washington 41-21. Hurricanes 0-5-2 in last 7 at home.
Montreal 3 at Tampa Bay 5
Vincent Lecavalier had 2 assists and got go-ahead goal with 5:04 left as Lightning overcame 2-goal deficit. Tampa Bay won for just 2nd time when trailing after 2 periods (2-13-2-0).
Boston 2 at Ottawa 3
Martin Havlat’s 2nd goal of game 1:23 into OT won for Senators. Havlat, who put Ottawa up 2-0 in 2nd period, beat Felix Potvin for the winner, his 19th goal this season.
Colorado 4 at St. Louis 0
David Aebischer stopped 29 shots for 4th shutout of season and Avs extended point streak to 11 games (6-0-3-2). Avs have lost just 3 of 28 road games this season.
Columbus 1 at Toronto 4
Leafs’ Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker scored power-play goals, and Ed Belfour made 18 saves after missing 3 games with back injury. Belfour was rarely tested.
Pittsburgh 1 at Florida 5
Niklas Hagman ended 30-game drought with 2 goals, helping Panthers extend Penguins’ franchise-record losing streak to 13 games. Florida has won 3 in row for first time this season.
Philadelphia 2 at N.Y. Rangers 1
Sean Burke, acquired earlier in week, made 26 saves in first game with Flyers, and Sami Kapanen scored go-ahead goal midway through 3rd period. Flyers won 4th in row.
