Dallas Stars defenseman Teppo Numminen has been diagnosed with a heart condition and is out indefinitely.
Numminen has a dilated aorta, one of the large blood vessels leaving the heart, general manager Doug Armstrong said Saturday.
Numminen experienced an irregular heart pattern during Thursday’s game. He underwent testing Friday, which revealed the dilated aorta.
“The question is if he can play hockey with a dilated aorta,” internist Dr. John C. Brooks said.
Belak ejected
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Wade Belak was ejected after slashing Colorado’s Ossi Vaananen in the head Saturday night.
Belak was jostling with Vaananen when he whipped around and hit the Colorado defender in the side of the head and neck with his stick. Vaananen was shaken up, but stayed on the Avalanche bench during the second period.
Belak was given a match penalty for attempting to injure.
RESULTS, SATURDAY’S SYNOPSIS
Tampa Bay 4 at Boston 5
Bruins rallied from a 3-0 deficit. Michael Nylander scored his 1st goal of the season 2:52 into the 3rd period. He had missed the first 63 games of the season with a broken leg.
N.Y. Rangers 0 at Philadelphia 3
Robert Esche made 24 saves for 3rd shutout of season. Claude Lapointe, Simon Gagne scored 1st-period goals. Rangers went 0-for-5 on power play and haven’t scored in last 14 chances.
St. Louis 1 at Dallas 3
Stu Barnes scored go-ahead goal with 12:04 remaining as Stars extended franchise-record, home-unbeaten streak to 17 games. Stars’ last home loss was Jan. 10 against Colorado.
Colorado 2 at Toronto 5
Owen Nolan scored twice for Maple Leafs. The Avs have lost just 7 of 38 road games in regulation. They have the best road record in the NHL.
New Jersey 2 at Montreal 3
Rookie Michael Ryder had a goal and an assist. The teams are even with 90 pts, but Canadiens are ahead in the standings because they have won 2 more games.
Carolina 3 at Ottawa 2
Bret Hedican scored with :59.3 remaining in OT. Senators missed opportunity to take control when they failed to score during double minor. They had 1 shot during advantage.
Atlanta 2 at Washington 2
Andy Sutton scored his 2nd power-play goal of the game with :35.2 left for Thrashers. All five of Sutton’s power-play goals this season have come in the last 6 games.
Buffalo 2 at Florida 1
Miroslav Satan and Derek Roy scored for Sabres. Panthers lost 2nd game in 2 nights as playoff chances became even slimmer. Sabres’ Jochen Hecht has 4 goals and 8 pts in 4 games.
Nashville 3 at Calgary 1
Sergei Zholtok had a goal and an assist. Dan Hamhuis had 2 assists as Predators earned 1st win in last 9 games. Flames had their season-high 7-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Detroit 4 at Los Angeles 2
Jason Williams scored 2 goals and had an assist. Steve Yzerman had 3 assists. Kings’ Luc Robitaille posted 1,367th career point, tying Johnny Bycyk for the most by a left wing in NHL history.
