SPORTSWIRE: Flyers suffer second straight 3-0 shutout against Panthers

Penguins tie best start ever; LaSalle joins A-10; Duke gets first ACC win; Dykstra speaks out The Flyers, who traded Mark Recchi for three Montreal Canadiens earlier in the day, were shut out 3-0 in Ottawa Monday night. The Senators and the Panthers have a combined record of 5-13-3. The last time Philadelphia was shut out in back-to-back games was in 1973, when the Flyers lost 3-0 in Los Angeles on Oct. 20 and 4-0 in Montreal on Oct. 25. Dave Lowry, Stu Barnes and Gord Murphy scored for the Panthers, who recorded their first shutout of the season. The Panthers scored their goals in the first 11 1/2 minutes of the game. The Flyers, who were outshot 18-7 in the period, mustered few real scoring chances even-strength or on four power plays. Lowry made it 1-0 at 4:53. He snuck past the Philadelphia defense, controlled a loose puck just in front of Flyers goalie Dominic Roussel, faked Roussel onto his stomach, drew the puck around him and lifted it into the open net. · Penguins 5, Islanders 2 UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Shawn McEachern's two goals, set a team record for their best start in a season with a 5-2 victory last night over the New York Islanders. The Penguins, the only unbeaten team in the NHL this season, improved their record to 9-0-1. Jaromir Jagr had a goal and three assists as the Penguins continued to win without many of their top players. Mario Lemieux, Tom Barrasso, Kevin Stevens and Luc Robitaille are out for a variety of reasons. Ken Wregget, who has played every minute in goal for the Penguins in Barrasso's absence, stopped 32 shots. · Devils 4, Rangers 1 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Defenseman Bruce Driver set up three goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers last night in their first meeting since their seven-game Eastern Conference final last season. New Jersey jumped to a 2-0 lead. Scott Niedermayer and Claude Lemieux scored power-play goals 1:38 apart on Driver setups, but the Devils had trouble getting a third goal by Rangers goalie Mike Richter, who had at least five good saves in the second period. Brian Noonan revived hopes of a Rangers' comeback by converting in close against Martin Brodeur on a power-play setup by Messier just 38 seconds into the third period. However, this time there would be no three goals by Messier and a 4-2 win. With the Rangers still pressing, Bobby Holik broke out of the Devils' zone after Sergei Zubov was trapped and beat Richter with a slapshot from the left faceoff circle with 6:39 to go. Tom Chorske added another breakaway goal with 4:23 left. Brodeur finished with 27 saves in recording the Devils first regular-season win over the Rangers in two years. New York won all six regular-season games last year. The Atlantic 10 will have 12 schools next season, five of them first-year members after Virginia Tech, Dayton and La Salle officially joined the conference last night. The three newcomers join fellow rookies Fordham and Xavier, Ohio in a league that has gone from a questionable future months ago to a solid basketball conference that will reach a number of major television markets. Bruno said the league will be split into two divisions and keep the name despite the discrepancy in numbers. · Duke 77, No. 18 Georgia Tech 70 DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke broke out of its month-long slump last night, snapping a nine-game Atlantic Coast Conference losing streak by finally hanging on down the stretch to beat No. 18 Georgia Tech 77-70. The Blue Devils got key baskets by freshmen Trajan Langdon and Ricky Price in a span of 20 seconds as Duke cooled off the ACC's hottest team. After storming back from an 11-point second-half deficit to take a 68-67 lead with 2:35 left on an eight-footer by Travis Best, the Yellow Jackets committed two turnovers that cost them the game. Langdon hit a 15-foot jumper after Best's shot, but then Best, who scored 25 points, threw the ball away on Georgia Tech's next possession. That turnover led to Price's short banker for a 71-68 Duke lead. Drew Barry, the ACC's assist leader, then threw away another pass with 1:26 remaining. Duke, the worst free-throw shooting team in the league, made four straight foul shots over the next 19 seconds to seal the win. · St. Bonaventure 63, St. Joseph's 56 Jeff Quackenbush scored a season-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure to a 63-56 win last night over St. Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 at Alumni Field House. St. Bonaventure (15-8, 7-4) saw an 18-point halftime lead shrink to 47-45 on a pair of free throws by Carlin Warley with 7:10 left in the game. But Quackenbush scored four of Bonaventure's next six points and the Bonnies went on to win their fourth consecutive game and their ninth in 10 games. Reggie Townsend led St. Joseph's scorers with 16 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Warley had 15 points and matched a season-high seven rebounds. Shandue McNeill had 11 points and five assists for the Bonnies. WASHINGTON -- Lenny Dykstra, still considering becoming a strikebreaker, said yesterday that players should consider accepting the proposal offered by mediator W.J. Usery. The mediator, in a rare public statement, backed away from the ideas he suggested to the sides on Tuesday, saying they weren't his final recommendation. President Clinton's legislation for binding arbitration remained stuck in Congress, and union head Donald Fehr prepared to schedule a new set of regional meetings. Dykstra, wondering whether the union should change its tactics, said he hadn't decided whether to report when the regular season starts. ''Lenny Dykstra loves baseball, Lenny Dysktra is fortunate to be playing in the major leagues, Lenny Dykstra wants to play baseball in 1995,'' he told ESPN. ''As far as going across, you'll have to ask me again in April.'' Dykstra, scheduled to be paid $31,147.54 per day in 1995, said baseball's top players would soon discuss the strike with Fehr. Owners said they would reluctantly accept the mediator's suggestions for a settlement, but the union rejected the ideas. At least one lobbyist for the owners has distributed the document on Capitol Hill. Fehr said regional meetings probably will start at the end of next week. He sent agents a memorandum saying that Usery's plan was, ''To put it mildly, terrible.''