NHL ROUNDUP : Blackhawks Down Nordiques

If winning breeds confidence, that must be the reason the Chicago Blackhawks are beaming these days.

For the first time in a long time the Blackhawks believe in themselves. They are confident they can play with anybody in the National Hockey League.

It is a different feeling for a team that lost more games than it won in each of the last three seasons.

Troy Murray scored his 10th goal and assisted on another Tuesday night at Quebec to lead the Blackhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Nordiques. The Blackhawks have won six of their last seven games and have a 9-5-1 record. They lead the Norris Division by four points.

It’s a sizzling start for a team that didn’t qualify for the playoffs last spring until Murray scored a goal in overtime in the last game of the regular schedule. Last season, Coach Mike Keenan’s first, the Blackhawks won only one of their first nine games.

“The team doesn’t just sit back on its heels,” said Murray, who had 21 goals last season. “We no longer stand at the blue line waiting for the other guy to come at us. We have become aggressive.”

Jacques Cloutier, obtained from Buffalo less than a week before the season opened, has given Chicago strong goaltending. He stopped 23 shots and improved his record to 6-1-1.

“I like the attitude,” Keenan said. “We’re playing very intelligently and we’re moving the puck out of our end with a lot of determination. And, it seems to be rubbing off on everybody.

“Cloutier has been good when we’ve called on him. He keeps making outstanding saves in tough situations. He has been a big addition.”

Washington 1, St. Louis 1--For the third consecutive game, the stout Capital defense held the opposition to one goal in this game at Landover, Md.

This time, they didn’t lose. When defenseman Scott Stevens scored at 15:21 of the second period, it ended a club record scoreless string of 181 minutes 15 seconds. Included were two 1-0 defeats. The old record was 156:06 in 1974, the first month the franchise existed.

Rod Brind’Amour scored his sixth goal seven minutes into the final period to give the Blues the tie.

The Capitals are winless in their last seven games (0-5-2).

Montreal 3, N.Y. Islanders 0--Another streak featuring futility is intact. With Canadien goaltender Patrick Roy stopping 28 shots, the Islanders remained winless at home this season. They are 0-4-2 at Nassau Coliseum.

The Canadiens, who had lost three in a row on the road, turned second-period goals by Bobby Smith and Ryan Walter into a rather easy victory.

The Canadiens (9-6-0), even though they are without injured players Brian Skrudland, Shayne Corson and Claude Lemieux, lead the Adams Division by three points over Buffalo.

Toronto 6, Minnesota 4--The Maple Leafs scored three goals in 81 seconds during the second period to hand the North Stars their first defeat at home.

Until the Maple Leafs rallied, the North Stars (5-0-0) had the only perfect home record.

Vancouver 4, New Jersey 3--Vladimir Krutov and Steve Bozek scored third-period goals to lift the Canucks to a victory over the Devils at Vancouver.

New Jersey suffered its first road defeat in five games.