NHL ROUNDUP YZERMAN'S 600TH SPARKS WINGS DETROIT CAPTAIN ONLY 11TH PLAYER TO MAKE MILESTONE

Author: Associated Press

Dateline: DETROIT

Article Text:

Steve Yzerman was a bit embarrassed by the all the attention. Even after scoring his 600th goal, the Detroit captain would rather talk about team accomplishments.

Yzerman scored the milestone goal Friday night in the Red Wings' 4-2 victory over Edmonton to became the 11th player in NHL history to reach the mark.

But nothing, Yzerman said, compares to the two Stanley Cup championships he helped the Red Wings win in 1997 and '98.

``I've been through pretty much everything in my career, good and not that much bad, some struggles at times,'' Yzerman said. ``By far the most rewarding things are going through four rounds of the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup.

``That blows everything away.''

Yzerman , who topped 900 assists last week, also joined Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne and Mark Messier as the only NHL players with 600 goals and 900 assists. Yzerman has 1,503 points to rank seventh on the career list.

Yzerman scored on a power play at 12:30 of the first period.

After winning a faceoff, Yzerman took a pass from Nicklas Lidstrom, skated up the goal line and lifted a drive that bounced off the glove of goalie Tommy Salo before glancing off the back of his left leg and into the net.

``I was trying to lay it over everyone's stick and it hit the goalie's glove and went in,'' Yzerman said. ``I'll take it. I've had some good chances lately and haven't been able to score.''

Salo was amazed Yzerman scored.

``It hit my glove and I was trying to reach back for it,'' Salo said. ``He was lucky to get it in. I was there; there was nothing else I could do. He was trying to pass the puck and got a lucky goal.''

Yzerman scored his 600th goal in his 1,201st regular-season game. He wouldn't speculate about his chances for 700.