NHL Roundup : O’Connell Scores Twice in Boston’s 3-1 Victory

Defenseman Mike O’Connell scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season and the Boston Bruins turned in an outstanding defensive effort in front of goalie Pete Peeters Monday night to surprise the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, at Boston.

The Bruins, 5-3-1 in their last nine games despite consecutive losses last week, outshot Montreal, 38-24, in defeating the Adams Division leaders for the third time in five meetings. The fourth-place Bruins moved within seven points of the Canadiens.

After O’Connell broke a 1-1 tie early in the second period, Montreal goalie Steve Penney frustrated the Bruins repeatedly before Keith Crowder added an insurance goal in the eighth minute of the final period.

O’Connell gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal on a 35-foot shot between Penney’s legs while Boston had a 4-3 advantage in skaters at 5:04 of the first period.

Pierre Mondou tied the score at 8:12 as he pounced on a rebound of a shot by Larry Robinson, swung behind Peeters and slid a shot which deflected off Boston defenseman John Blum’s skate and into the net. It was Mondou’s 14th goal.

Winnipeg 7, Pittsburgh 6--Center Dale Hawerchuk scored his third hat trick of the season and added an assist as the Jets outlasted the Penguins at Winnipeg.

Hawerchuk scored the first three Winnipeg goals and helped put the Jets ahead, 4-3, by assisting on Paul McLean’s goal at 13:52 of the second period. Perry Turnbull’s goal made it 5-3, but Arto Javanainen’s first two NHL goals tied it at 6:19 of the final period.

Defenseman Robert Picard restored the Jets’ lead before Scott Arniel made it 7-5 at 15:40. Warren Young rounded out the scoring with 1:04 left.

St. Louis 6, Detroit 3--Defensemen Rob Ramage and Jim Pavese scored 34 seconds apart early in the second period and Jorgen Pettersson added a pair of goals as the Blues turned back the Red Wings at Detroit to retain their Norris Division lead.

The defeat extended the Red Wings’ winless streak to 12 games.

After the Blues’ Brian Sutter snapped a 1-1 tie 46 seconds into the middle period, Ramage and Pavese benefitted from shoddy goaltending by Detroit’s Ed Mio.

Ramage was credited with his third goal at 1:50 when Mio tried to control a loose puck and shoved it into his own net. Pavese’s soft, 60-foot flip shot eluded the Red Wings goalie at the 2:24 mark to give the Blues a 3-1 edge.

Pettersson scored his first at 12:57 of the second period to cap the four-goal burst.

Chicago 7, Minnesota 2--Steve Larmer had two goals and an assist and Doug Wilson had a goal and three assists as the Black Hawks routed the North Stars at Chicago.

Larmer notched his 29th and 30th goals of the season and has scored 30 or more goals in each of his three NHL seasons. Denis Savard, Ed Olczyk, Dan Frawley and Bill Gardner also scored for the Black Hawks.

The win was only Chicago’s second in its last six games. Steve Payne scored both North Star goals.

Vancouver 3, Calgary 3--Tony Tanti scored at 19:32 of the third period and goaltender Richard Brodeur stopped a breakaway in overtime to lift the Canucks to a tie at Vancouver.

Tanti’s power-play goal held off a comeback by the Flames, who took a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the third period.

Brodeur preserved the tie when he stopped Hakan Loob on a breakaway in the overtime period, making a glove save as Loob aimed for the top corner.

Calgary’s Eddie Beers made it 2-2 at 16:01 of the final period, slapping a centering pass from Loob past Brodeur. Neil Sheehy moved the Flames ahead, 3-2, less than two minutes later, firing the puck through a maze of players in front of the Vancouver net.