It took Eric Lindros just 93 seconds to let the Ottawa Senators know he was back in the Philadelphia Flyers' lineup.
The slumping Senators weathered that storm, but in the end Lindros damaged them beyond repair."He's a great force out there," said linemate Mikael Renberg, who had a goal and an assist in the Flyers' 5-3 victory Thursday night.
"I think just having him on the ice brings confidence to the other players. At least that's the way I feel."
In addition to two goals by their top center, the Flyers got four assists from their second-best, Rod Brind'Amour.
Philadelphia, just 2-4-1 while Lindros was out with a sprained left knee, scored three goals in just three minutes in the final period to hand Ottawa its sixth straight loss.
At 5:06 of the third, Lindros tapped in a rebound for his 13th goal and a 4-3 lead. Just 53 seconds later, Karl Dykhuis floated a wrist shot from the left point that sneaked past goalie Mike Bales, who then was pulled for Don Beaupre.
Russ Romaniuk's second goal of the season gave the Flyers a 3-3 tie at 2:50 of the final period.
Lindros didn't wait very long to make his presence felt, scoring a power-play goal just 1:33 into the contest.
Kings 9, Islanders 2
Wayne Gretzky had a goal and five assists to pass Mario Lemieux for the NHL assist lead.
Gretzky extended his assist streak to eight games and has 27 on the season, three more than Lemieux. It was Gretzky's first six-point game since he had two goals and four assists against Detroit on Oct. 9, 1993.
Blues 3, Sharks 1
At St. Louis, Patrice Tardif scored the decisive goal at 4:04 of the third period, and Grant Fuhr allowed only one goal for the fourth time in five games as St. Louis beat woeful San Jose.
Maple Leafs 5, Lightning 4, OT
Benoit Hogue scored in the final minute of regulation and added the game-winner at 32 seconds of overtime for Toronto at Tampa Bay.
Canucks 2, Panthers 2, tie
At Miami, Scott Mellanby scored a pair of goals, and Florida staged another third-period rally to tie Vancouver.
The tie snapped Florida's seven-game winning streak, but allowed the Panthers to remain unbeaten in their last eight contests.
Devils 2, Bruins 2
At Boston, Valeri Zelepukin's third goal of the season, with 3:04 left in the third period, gave New Jersey the tie.
The tie snapped a three-game winning streak for the Devils, and gave the Bruins their first non-losing effort in three outings.
Blackhawks 3, Rangers 1
At Chicago, Jeremy Roenick scored a questionable short-handed goal and added an assist for Chicago.