NHL Roundup : Devils Won’t Go Quietly, Win, 4-2

With their season fading away, the New Jersey Devils made a stand in the unlikeliest of places.

The Devils, already five points behind in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division, scored three goals in a 3 1/2-minute span of the final period Sunday to beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2, at Landover, Md.

New Jersey was 0-23-1 at the Capital Centre since a victory March 2, 1980, when the team was called the Colorado Rockies.

The Devils’ must pass both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers to make the playoffs.

The Rangers have 74 points to 71 for the Penguins and 69 for New Jersey as the season winds down.

“We’re not that far out of it,” said Doug Brown, who scored the tie-breaking goal while the Devils were playing short-handed with 5:48 left. “We’re behind the eight-ball, but we’re not out of it.”

Claude Loiselle added a goal one minute after Brown scored.

Mike Ridley’s two goals gave Washington an early lead, but Pat Verbeek countered with a pair for New Jersey.

New York Islanders 6, Winnipeg 0--Billy Smith stopped 35 shots by the Jets and recorded his second shutout of the season and 22nd in his career as the Islanders won at Winnipeg.

Denis Potvin and Brent Sutter scored two goals each for the Islanders, who snapped a four-game winless streak and moved to within three points of Patrick Division leader Washington.

The Jets, who have gone 118 minutes without a goal, are winless in seven games.

Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 2--Peter Zezel highlighted a four-goal second period with a goal and two assists and the Flyers broke a five-game losing streak by beating the Penguins at Philadelphia.

The victory moved the Flyers, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit, to within two points of Patrick Division leader Washington.

The Penguins, who lost a three-game winning streak, stretched their winless streak at the Spectrum to 0-37-3 since a 5-3 victory on Jan. 20, 1974.

Mario Lemieux scored his 60th goal for the Penguins.

New York Rangers 2, Hartford 1--Marcel Dionne’s 31st goal broke a 1-1 tie with 4:01 remaining and the Rangers beat the Whalers at New York.

Hartford remained one point behind Quebec for the fourth playoff position in the Adams Division.

The Rangers have won 5 of their last 6 games and 9 of 12. Hartford has lost 4 of 5 and had its unbeaten string at Madison Square Garden halted at 4-0-1.

St. Louis 5, Chicago 2--Defenseman Gaston Gingras had a goal and two assists, one after a key defensive play, as the Blues defeated the Blackhawks at Chicago.

Bernie Federko had a goal and two assists for St. Louis, which increased its lead over Chicago to four points in their battle for second place in the Norris Division.

Gingras enabled the Blues to take a two-goal lead late in the second period when he intercepted Rick Vaive’s clearing pass in front of the Chicago blue line. Gingras then blasted a shot that hit the left shoulder of teammate Gino Cavallini and deflected past goalie Bob Mason for Cavallini’s 13th goal.

Edmonton 5, Minnesota 5--Moe Mantha’s goal late in the second period capped a four-goal rally and the North Stars got a tie with the Oilers at Bloomington, Minn.

The Oilers grabbed a 5-1 lead early in the second period before the North Stars rallied with goals by Dave Gagner, Brian Lawton, Brian Bellows and Mantha.

Minnesota moved to within two points of Toronto, which holds the final playoff spot in the Norris Division.

Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky had a goal and two assists, one on Craig Simpson 52nd goal.

Boston 6, Buffalo 2--Bob Joyce scored twice and Craig Janney had three assists as the Bruins turned back the Sabres at Buffalo.

Goalie Andy Moog, playing in his third game with the Bruins after being acquired from Edmonton on March 7, made 35 saves as the Bruins, who lost to Buffalo, 4-3, on Saturday, snapped a three-game losing streak.