NHL Roundup : Rangers Spoil Debut of Winnipeg Coach, 4-3

The Winnipeg Jets, with Coach Rick Bowness making his debut, played one of their better games Thursday night against the Rangers at New York, but it wasn’t quite good enough.

The Jets, winners of only two of their last 13 games, took a 3-2 lead early in the third period on Doug Smail’s short-handed goal.

But veteran Guy Lafleur tied the score with his 13th goal at 9:54 and, just 76 seconds later, Carey Wilson scored his 21st goal to end the Rangers’ three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory.

It was the fifth loss in a row for the Jets, who fired Coach Dan Maloney Tuesday, shortly before the All-Star game.

Pittsburgh 5, Quebec 2--Mario Lemieux snapped out of his first slump of the season and the Penguins held on to first place in the Patrick Division with a victory at Pittsburgh.

Lemieux, who had been on a record pace, had only four points in his last four games and only an assist in the All-Star game.

But Tuesday, he scored his 56th goal and assisted on three others, including linemate Rob Brown’s 42nd goal that extended Brown’s scoring streak to 13 games.

Edmonton 3, Philadelphia 1--Two players emerged from season-long slumps to lead the Oilers to victory at Philadelphia.

Craig Simpson scored two goals and goaltender Grant Fuhr stopped 37 shots in a spectacular performance. Simpson, who had 43 goals in 59 games for the Oilers last season, has just 24 in 57 this season.

New Jersey 6, Detroit 3--John MacLean had a hand in five goals as the Devils extended their road unbeaten streak to six games (3-0-3).

The Red Wings, who were running away in the Norris Division, have let their rivals get back in the race. They have lost five of their last six. Calgary 5, St. Louis 3--Doug Gilmour, in his first appearance at St. Louis since being traded to the Flames last September, made life miserable for his former teammates.

Gilmour had two goals and an assist to lead the Flames to their fifth victory in a row.

Hartford 5, Buffalo 2--Ray Ferraro scored twice and rookie Dallas Gaume scored his first NHL goal to lift the Whalers at Hartford.

Minnesota 3, Vancouver 2--Dave Gagner scored his second goal with 4:19 left at Bloomington, Minn., to beat the Canucks.