NHL Roundup : Bruins Rally for Tie With Islanders, 4-4

Coach Butch Goring admitted that he wasn’t “sure which team deserved to win” Thursday night after his Boston Bruins rallied for a 4-4 overtime tie with the New York Islanders at Boston.

“We had some great moments and we had some not so great moments,” Goring said after the Bruins remained the NHL’s only team unbeaten at home.

The “great moments” included rookie Kraig Nienhuis’ unassisted goal, his 10th, which capped a third-period comeback.

They also included Doug Keans’ acrobatic goaltending in overtime, when Boston was outshot, 6-0, but managed to extend its Boston Garden season record to 6-0-2. Keans robbed Mike Bossy three times and Ken Morrow, Pat LaFontaine and Bryan Trottier once each in the five-minute extra period.

LaFontaine scored two goals and assisted on another for the Islanders, while Ken Linseman had a pair of goals for Boston.

St. Louis 4, Minnesota 2--Brian Sutter, playing in a club-record 663rd game, scored one goal and assisted on another, and goaltender Rick Wamsley stopped 27 shots in leading the Blues at Bloomington, Minn.

Kevin LaVallee scored 5:26 into the second period to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead, and the Blues remained in front the rest of the way.

Minnesota has won only one of its last 11 games.

Sutter topped the Blues’ record of 662 games played, set by Gary Unger in 1979.

Philadelphia 3, Hartford 0--Derrick Smith scored in the first period, and Bob Froese recorded his first shutout of the season to lead the Flyers at Philadelphia. Tim Kerr and Mark Howe scored the Flyers’ other goals.

The win kept the Flyers in first place in the Patrick Division at 16-3. Hartford remained in last place in the Adams Division with a record of 8-10-0.

Goaltender Froese and defenseman Howe both returned to the Flyer lineup after being out with injuries.