NHL Roundup : Ronning Outshines North Stars, Blues Get a 4-4 Tie

Cliff Ronning has always been a scorer; so after three games without a goal, he wondered if his touch had deserted him.

Never mind that he’s a rookie and this is the National Hockey League, scorers expect to score.

Ronning broke the ice Monday night when he scored three goals in a span of 9:52 in the second and third periods to help the St. Louis Blues to a 4-4 tie with the Minnesota North Stars at Bloomington, Minn.

“I was kind of starting to doubt myself, if I could score any more,” said Ronning, who was playing in only his fourth regular-season NHL game. “Then the first one went in and they started going in for me.”

Ronning is listed at 5-foot 8-inches and 155 pounds, and St. Louis Coach Jacques Martin said that those are probably generous numbers.

North Star defenseman Craig Hartsburg said Ronning wasn’t easy to find out on the ice.

“We really haven’t seen a lot of little guys; he’s probably one of the smallest,” said Hartsburg, whose 35-foot slapshot with 9:41 left in regulation sent the game into a scoreless overtime.

“Next time, we’ll pay him more attention. We’ll lean on him, wear him down, tie him up. We have to make him pay every time he gets the puck around the net.”

Ronning’s effort couldn’t have come at a better time for the Blues, who lost star center Bernie Federko last week because of a fractured jaw.

Ronning, who played with the Canadian National Team until last Thursday, scored 89 goals for New Westminister of the Western Hockey League in 1984-85.

The tie moved the North Stars into the Norris Division lead by one point over Chicago and Detroit. Two points behind are Toronto and St. Louis.

After a scoreless first period, goals by Brian Bellows and Keith Acton gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead midway through the second.

But Ronning, who scored one goal in five playoff games with St. Louis last season, was just getting warmed up.

Ronning completed his hat trick with a stuff shot at 4:14 of the third period to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead. But Bellows’ second goal at 6:25 tied the score. Rick Meagher gave Toronto a 4-3 lead at 8:18, but the lead only stood for 1:50, until Hartsburg scored.

There were no serious scoring chances for either team in the five-minute overtime period, when the Blues outshot the North Stars, 2-1.

Montreal 2, Toronto 1--Brian Hayward made 30 saves, and Serge Momesso scored a fluke goal at 6:45 of the third period to lift the Canadiens to a victory over the Maple Leafs at Montreal.

The victory increased the Canadiens’ lead to four points over second-place Hartford in the Adams Division.

With the scored tie, 1-1, Bobby Smith took a shot from close range that Toronto goalie Ken Wregget stopped with his pad. The puck bounced into the air and hit Momesso’s chest before caroming into the goal.

Smith scored the only goal through two periods.

Boston 4, N.Y. Rangers 1--Charlie Simmer scored a pair of goals, and Doug Keans made 25 saves to lead the Bruins past the Rangers at Boston for their first home-ice victory in more than a month.

Keans came within 4:33 of recording his first shutout of the season in the Bruins’ first victory at Boston Garden since defeating the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 11. They were 0-4-1 at home in that span.

Simmer’s goals staked the Bruins to a 2-0 lead at 14:56 left in the second period. Walt Poddubny’s 23rd goal spoiled Keans’ shutout.

New Jersey 7, Hartford 5--Pat Verbeek’s goal at 11:39 of the third period snapped a tie, and the Devils broke a 10-game winless streak by beating the Whalers at East Rutherford, N.J.

Defenseman Bruce Driver and Mark Johnson each scored two goals to help New Jersey win its first game after an 0-7-3 skid.

Hartford lost its fourth straight.