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Jiri Dopita scored four goals, a first this season in the league, to tie a team record and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Atlanta Thrashers, 7-4, Tuesday night at Philadelphia to take

over first place in the Atlantic Division. Dopita is playing in his first NHL season after leading his team to five league championships in the Czech Republic. He had two goals in his

previous 25 games with the Flyers. The goals tied a franchise record reached 14 times, most recently by John LeClair in 1998. LeClair and Justin Williams each had a goal and two assists. The

Flyers won their fourth in a row at home and moved past the idle New York Rangers for first place in the division for the first time this season. * Boston 3, Pittsburgh 2--The Bruins’ top

line of Sergei Samsonov, Joe Thornton and Glen Murray each scored at Pittsburgh and Boston won its eighth in the last 10. Samsonov, who had a goal and two assists, scored the game-winner at

8:14 of the third period. Kris Beech and Jan Hrdina scored for Pittsburgh. Toronto 4, Nashville 3--Mats Sundin scored twice and the Maple Leafs rallied at Toronto. Sundin tied the score,

3-3, with his 24th goal of the season at 9:08 of the third period, and scored again at 13:49. Sundin is second in the league in goals scored. Calgary 5, New York Islanders 2--Jarome Iginla

had a goal and two assists, and Roman Turek stopped 35 shots for the Flames at Uniondale, N.Y. Chris Clark had a goal and an assist, and Clarke Wilm, Dean McAmmond and rookie defenseman

Steve Montador also scored for Calgary, which has won eight in a row against the Islanders. Michael Peca and Shawn Bates scored for the Islanders. Buffalo 3, Vancouver 2--Vaclav Varada

scored twice at Buffalo and the Sabres won consecutive games for the first time in more than a month. Brendan Morrison and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Canucks. Dallas 2, Tampa Bay 1--Goalie

Marty Turco won his seventh in a row, and Joe Nieuwendyk and Mike Modano scored 33 seconds apart early in the third period at Tampa, Fla. Turco made 34 saves. He lost the shutout when Dave

Andreychuk scored with 46.2 seconds to play. Minnesota 4, Montreal 2--Wes Walz had two goals, one short-handed, at St. Paul, Minn, as the Wild made Jacques Lemaire a winner in his 600th game

as an NHL coach. St. Louis 6, San Jose 2--Dallas Drake scored twice in the first period at San Jose and the Blues extended their winning streak to three games. Keith Tkachuk, Scott Young,

Pavol Demitra and Chris Pronger also scored for St. Louis. Owen Nolan and Scott Thornton scored for the Sharks. * Ottawa Senator owner Rod Bryden has agreed to sell the team to an investment

group for $116 million under a deal that will allow him to continue running the club. The team said in a statement Tuesday the sale to OSHC 2001 Limited Partnership “is in process but is

not yet concluded,” and should be finalized by early March. The team will remain in Ottawa. MORE TO READ