NHL Roundup : Nordiques Shut Down Canadiens, 3-2

Rookie goaltender Ron Tugnutt of the Quebec Nordiques figured he owed one to his teammates.

Tugnutt, unable to play in a game last week at Pittsburgh because he left his contact lenses at home, made 31 saves and helped the Nordiques surprise the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, Monday night at Montreal.

Only 11 days earlier, the Canadiens chased Tugnutt after two periods in a 6-1 victory at Quebec.

Left wing Mike Hough scored a shorthanded goal and also had an assist for Quebec.

Defensemen Jeff Brown and Randy Moller had sandwiched first-period goals around a goal by Montreal defenseman Chris Chelios before Hough made it 3-1 at 2:56 of the second period.

Shayne Corson scored at 1:19 of the third period for the Canadiens, but Tugnutt turned them away the rest of the way.

New Jersey 8, Toronto 1--Brendan Shanahan and Pat Verbeek scored three goals apiece and defenseman Tom Kurvers had a franchise record five assists as the Devils routed the Maple Leafs at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Devils broke open a scoreless game with a five-goal second period on the way to their biggest margin of victory since the franchise moved to New Jersey from Colorado in 1982.

The victory moved New Jersey to within five points of idle Philadelphia in the battle for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Patrick Division. The Devils are 3-1-2 in their last six games. The Flyers have lost four of their last five.

Ed Olczyk scored for Toronto.

Winnipeg 2, Detroit 2--Jet goaltender Bob Essensa survived a shaky start in his NHL debut, but turned aside the final 23 shots he faced to get his team a tie with the Red Wings at Detroit.

Essensa, who starred for four seasons at Michigan State, allowed goals on the first shot he faced in the opening period and Steve Yzerman’s penalty shot 10 minutes later. But he shut out the Red Wings over the final 54:30 as the Jets ended a six-game losing streak.

Hannu Jarvenpaa’s goal cut the lead to 2-1 with 2:56 left in the opening period. Thomas Steen’s goal with 2:03 left in the second period tied the score.