NHL Roundup : Montreal Holds On to Beat New Jersey, 5-4

It was asking too much for the New Jersey Devils to complete a five-game unbeaten trip with a win or a tie at Montreal.

But they made a valiant effort. After spotting the powerful Canadiens a 5-0 lead, the Devils rallied and just fell short, 5-4.

The Canadiens and goaltender Patrick Roy are almost unbeatable at home. Montreal has lost only once in 22 games at the Forum.

The Devils scored twice in the second period, then made it a real battle in the third period when David Maley and Joe Cirella scored, the latter with the Devils short-handed.

There were still more than 7 minutes left, but with 3 minutes remaining Roy made a sprawling stop of Patrik Sundstrom’s drive.

They lost all chance a minute later when Coach Jim Schoenfeld called for a measurement of Mike McPhee’s stick. The stick was legal, so the Devils drew a penalty.

The Devils, who had gone 3-0-3 in their previous six road games, are now in position to make a run at a playoff spot in the Patrick Division. They trail fourth-place Philadelphia by seven points.

Quebec 8, Pittsburgh 1--Peter Stastny exploded for four goals at Quebec to lead the Nordiques to a surprisingly easy victory over the Patrick Division-leading Penguins.

Stastny and Mike Hough scored in the first 83 seconds of the game, and the outcome was never in doubt. Stastny’s first three goals were from short range, and his last from long range with his team short-handed.

Mario Lemieux scored his 57th goal for the Penguins midway through the last period.

Calgary 2, Washington 1--Obviously, Joe Nieuwendyk never heard of the sophomore jinx. Nieuwendyk, who scored 51 goals last season, scored his 42nd goal to win the game at Landover, Md.

The goal, halfway through the second period, enabled the Flames to extend their unbeaten streak to 10, including nine victories.

Nieuwendyk scored his goal when the Flames had a two-man advantage. They dominated the period, getting 14 shots before the Capitals had their first one.

Boston 5, Edmonton 2--Before injuries all but wiped out their corps of defensemen, the Bruins appeared capable of challenging Montreal in the Adams Division.

It’s too late to make a bid for the division title, but the defensemen are healthy and the Bruins are tough again.

With Craig Janney scoring twice at Boston, the Bruins knocked off a Smythe Division team for the second time in a row. They had beaten the Kings, 4-1, Thursday night.

Hartford 7, Winnipeg 3--A coaching change hasn’t done anything yet for the Jets. In their second game under Rick Bowness, who replaced Dan Maloney earlier in the week, the Jets couldn’t handle John Anderson at Hartford, Conn.

Anderson had his fourth career hat trick to run his goal total for the season to eight.

Toronto 4, Philadelphia 3--The lowly Maple Leafs scored three times in a little more than 4 minutes in the second period at Toronto to build a 4-0 lead.

For the first half of the game, the puck was in the Flyers’ end of the ice most of the time. When they finally started playing, it was too little, too late. Murray Craven scored a goal that cut the lead to one with just 1:51 left.

St. Louis 5, New York Islanders 0--Goaltender Greg Millen is defying the trend in the NHL. In an era in which high-scoring games happen more often than shutouts, Millen keeps holding the opposition.

He stopped 33 Islander shots at St. Louis to register his fifth shutout of the season.

Detroit 5, Minnesota 1--The Red Wings, playing their best game in a month, stormed into Bloomington, Minn., and scored an impressive victory to maintain their six-point lead in the Norris Division.

Steve Yzerman scored his 51st goal and had two assists for Detroit.

Yzerman’s line, which includes Gerard Gallant and Paul MacLean, is about to move into elite company. The trio has 114 goals and needs one more to tie the team record held by the line of Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio and Frank Mahovlich. That group had 115 in the 1968-69 season, when clubs played 76 games instead of 80.