NHL ROUNDUP : Red Wings Speed Past Canadiens

The Detroit Red Wings are using their speed to get off to a fast start in the Norris Division.

The Red Wings extended their unbeaten streak to five games with a fast-paced 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night at Detroit.

Steve Yzerman scored two goals as the Red Wings (4-0-1) won their fourth consecutive home game to stay in the division lead with 10 points.

“We skated well with them and scored on rebounds,” said Bryan Murray, who is in his first season as coach and general manager of the Red Wings. “That’s what we want our guys to do. We want them to play with discipline. You have to have pretty good speed to do that, and we think we do.

“We’re gaining confidence. We’re getting some pretty good plays now.”

Rookie Jean-Claude Bergeron, making his NHL debut, handled 24 shots in the Canadiens’ goal. Tim Cheveldae handled 25 shots for Detroit.

“I was a little bit nervous,” Bergeron said. “When you’re nervous, the puck seems to have eyes. It finds holes.

“I’m sure I’m going to get used to it in a couple games.”

Marc Habscheid’s goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 9:51 of the first period.

Gerard Gallant put Detroit ahead, 2-0, at 9:01 of the second period on a give-and-go with Dave Barr.

“With four good lines, they can’t key on one line anymore,” Gallant said. “It takes a lot of pressure off.”

Philadelphia 5, Quebec 4--Norman Lacombe scored midway through the third period at Philadelphia to give the Flyers their fifth consecutive victory.

The Flyers played without right winger Tim Kerr, whose wife, Kathy, died Tuesday, 10 days after giving birth. Team chaplain John Casey recited a prayer before the game in her memory.

Chicago 3, Toronto 0--Jocelyn Lemieux broke a scoreless tie with a goal in the second period at Chicago and Ed Belfour notched his first career shutout as the Blackhawks extended the Maple Leafs’ winless streak to seven.

The loss gave the Maple Leafs an 0-6-1 record--worst in the NHL. The Maple Leafs have been held to 17 goals, the lowest number in the league.

With Chicago only 15 seconds into its second power-play opportunity, Lemieux redirected Keith Brown’s 55-foot slap shot past goalie Peter Ing at 11:52.

Belfour, winning his fifth game, lowered his goals-against average to 1.72 per game, second best in the league.

St. Louis 4, Calgary 3--Brett Hull scored two goals to lead the Blues at Calgary.

Goaltender Vincent Riendeau stopped 29 shots to record his first victory over the Flames, who had beaten the Blues eight consecutive times. St. Louis last beat the Flames in Calgary on Feb. 5, 1987.

The victory also gave the Blues, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2, on Tuesday, their first-ever Alberta Province sweep.

Hull, who signed a $1.5-million contract with the Blues this summer, scored on a first-period tip-in and then floated a shot over the shoulder of Calgary goaltender Mike Vernon in the second period.

Hull leads the Blues’ scoring with seven goals and two assists.

Paul MacLean and Sergio Momesso also scored for the Blues, who were outshot, 32-31.

The Flames trailed 4-0 after two periods, but they scored three goals in the third period, including two only 16 seconds apart by Theoren Fleury and Paul Ranheim.

Sergei Makarov scored Calgary’s first goal five minutes into the final period.