NHL Roundup : Penguins Beat Devils, End Slump

Mario Lemieux had four assists, and Norm Schmidt and Terry Ruskowski each had two goals Wednesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins snapped out of a slump to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 7-3, at East Rutherford, N.J.

The win lifted Pittsburgh into fourth place over the idle New York Rangers in the battle for the final Patrick Division playoff spot.

The Penguins broke a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) and handed the Devils their sixth straight defeat.

Leading 4-2 after two periods, Pittsburgh put the game away in the third.

Schmidt and Ruskowski scored their second goals of the game, during power plays at 2:13 and 10:23 respectively, sandwiched around Ron Duguay’s breakaway goal at 7:14.

Quebec 5, Toronto 2--Dale Hunter scored two goals and Michel Goulet added three assists to give the linemates 15 points in their last two games as the Nordiques extended their unbeaten streak to six at Quebec. The victory also gave Quebec a three-game season sweep of the Maple Leafs.

Hunter, who picked up four assists in the Nordiques’ 8-6 victory over Montreal Monday, scored both his goals in the first period to give Quebec a 2-0 lead.

He opened scoring less than five minutes into play, batting in a rebound past Toronto netminder Ken Wregget, who faced 23 shots in the period. Hunter added his second goal at 16:40 when Goulet relayed a pass to him in the slot.

Winnipeg 6, Montreal 4--Brian Mullen scored his first career hat trick to key the Jets’ five-goal spurt that carried them past the Canadiens at Winnipeg.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Canadiens, who began a four-game trip, and dropped them four points behind Adams Division leader Quebec.

Mullen scored the lone second-period goal to cut Montreal’s lead to 3-2 and tied the score with his second goal 19 seconds into the final period, when the puck deflected off Canadien defenseman Gaston Gingras.

Tomas Steen scored 85 seconds later, bouncing a 35-foot blast off Canadien defenseman Craig Ludwig for Winnipeg’s 4-3 lead. Randy Carlyle and Mullen completed the Jets’ scoring in the third period.

Hartford 5, St, Louis 2--Ron Francis recorded a goal and two assists in his first game in two months to help the Whalers to a victory at St. Louis. Francis’ game-winning goal came at 12:18 of the final period and gave the Whalers a 3-2 lead. It was the Hartford center’s first game back since he suffered a fractured ankle on Jan. 18.

Hartford has won seven of its last eight games, while the Blues have dropped four in a row.

Minnesota 6, Calgary 5--Scott Bjugstad scored a hat trick as the North Stars won their first ever regular season game at Calgary. Minnesota goalie Don Beaupre extended his personal unbeaten streak to 14 games.

Buffalo 4, Vancouver 3--Paul Cyr and Mikael Andersson scored 3:18 apart early in the third period to rally the Sabres past the Canucks at Vancouver.