Stanley Cup Playoffs : Johnson Has His Moment--Four Goals

Mark Johnson played a key role when the United States hockey team won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics, but he hasn’t had many big moments since then.

He certainly had one Friday night at East Rutherford, N.J., scoring four goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 10-4 victory over Washington and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup quarterfinal-round playoff series.

Johnson and linemate Patrick Sundstrom both gave the Capitals problems. Sundstrom set a playoff record for points in a game with eight, getting three goals and five assists.

Johnson became the first American-born hockey player to score four goals in a playoff game. Sundstrom broke the record of seven points, held by Wayne Gretzky, who accomplished the feat three times.

Johnson scored twice in the first period to give the Devils a lead they never relinquished, then scored two more goals in the third period.

And it was the third consecutive rough game between the rivals, with 231 penalty minutes called.

There were fights or confrontations almost every time the whistle blew to halt play. Two players, Brendan Shanahan of the Devils and Greg Smith of Washington, were given match penalties early in the second period.

The 10 goals were the most allowed by the Capitals in six seasons in the playoffs.

Boston 3, Montreal 1--The Bruins took another step toward erasing the hex the Canadiens have held over them in the playoffs.

The Bruins, who have been eliminated 20 times by the Canadiens, including the last four seasons, took a 2-1 lead in the series in the first game at Boston.

Bob Sweeney scored a short-handed goal and set up another goal to supply all the offense goaltender Rejean Lemelin needed.

Lemelin, in his second impressive game against the Canadiens, shut them out until Chris Chelios scored with 3:42 left. Lemelin blocked 22 shots.