NHL Roundup : Canadiens, Lemieux Fatten Up on Whalers, 6-2

Coach Jean Perron found a way to fire up Claude Lemieux and get his Montreal Canadiens into a tie for first place in the Adams Division.

Perron benched the hero of the Stanley Cup playoffs Friday night at Hartford, claiming the husky right wing was out of shape.

Saturday night, Lemieux was a terror. He scored two goals to lead the Canadiens to a 6-2 win over the Whalers and a three points to one advantage in the back-to-back games. As a result, both teams have 42 points.

However, the Canadiens have played four more games than Hartford and have four more defeats.

Lemieux, who had 10 goals in 20 games in the playoffs, has 10 in 33 games this season.

Perron felt that Lemieux celebrated the holidays by overeating. But Lemieux didn’t look out of shape to goaltender Steve Weeks.

The Canadiens were holding tenaciously to a 2-1 lead late in the first period, when Lemieux, on a power play, lifted the puck over Weeks’ shoulder. Then, in what was a scoreless second period, Mats Naslund, from behind the net, passed in front to Lemieux, who lifted a high shot over Weeks to make it 4-1.

“I was hungry and I was angry, and that probably helped me play better,” Lemieux said. “I guess that if I can’t help the team when I’m too heavy, it’s better for me to sit down.

“I practically starved myself for the last 24 hours and lost six pounds.”

Said Perron: “This was one of our best offensive games of the season. Taking three of the four points we could have against Hartford is going to be a big boost to morale around here.”

Vancouver 4, Philadelphia 2--When Richard Brodeur is at his best, even the team with the best record in the league can’t beat him.

Brodeur, who once led the Canucks into the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, stopped 21 shots as the worst team in the West won for just the 11th time in 36 games.

Petri Skriko led the Vancouver attack on rookie sensation Ron Hextall. He scored a goal and assisted on two others. The Flyers, who lead the Patrick Division by 11 points, fell to 25-9-2, still the best in the NHL.

St. Louis 3, New York Rangers 2--Rookie defenseman Brian Benning directed Bernie Federko’s pass into the net with just 3:20 left at St. Louis to end the Blues’ seven-game winless streak.

The Blues handed goalie Bob Froese his first defeat as a Ranger.

Goaltender Greg Millen ended his five-game winless streak by holding the Rangers, who had won two in a row.

Detroit 5, Toronto 5--Gerard Gallant scored his second goal of the game with 4:54 left in regulation at Toronto to give the Red Wings the tie.

When neither team could score in the five-minute overtime, it left three teams tied for first place in the Norris Division. Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota, none of whom are playing .500 hockey, each have 33 points.

The Maple Leafs took a 5-3 lead midway through the last period, but Randy Ladouceur cut the lead to a goal with 8:02 left.

Pittsburgh 3, New York Islanders 3--The Penguins may wear themselves out with all these overtime games. When Dan Quinn knocked in a rebound with only 28 seconds left in regulation, the Penguins were in their fourth consecutive overtime game. They have won none of them.

The Islanders led, 3-1, going into the last period at Pittsburgh. But Willy Lindstrom cut the lead in half at 3:31.

All four have come since Penguin star Mario Lemieux went out with a knee injury.

Quebec 2, New Jersey 2--Goaltender Alain Chevrier was sensational in the nets for the Devils at Quebec but had to settle for a tie.

Chevrier made 38 saves but couldn’t come up with the stop on Michel Goulet’s shot with two minutes left in regulation. It was Goulet’s 20th goal.

The Nordiques are 1-4-1 in their last six games. They have not won in overtime and are 0-1-6.