NHL ROUNDUP : Chicago’s Belfour Richer but Playing Poorer

Ed Belfour was the best goaltender in the NHL last season. He won the Vezina trophy and was largely responsible for the Chicago Blackhawks winning the Norris Division.

But after his sensational rookie season, Belfour wanted to be paid accordingly. He was a holdout for the first month of the season.

Without him, the Blackhawks struggled. He is back now, but they are still having problems.

Belfour, in his third game since signing a two-year contract for $1.8 million, couldn’t stop the Canadiens Saturday night at Montreal.

Brent Gilchrist scored twice in the third period, and the Canadiens rolled past the Blackhawks, 4-2. It was the 10th victory in the last 11 games for Montreal. In 25 shots, the Canadiens beat Belfour four times.

They are 14-4-1, boasting a 13-point lead in the Adams Division and the best NHL record. The Blackhawks, who led, 1-0, on newcomer Brent Sutter’s fifth goal in the first period, fell to 7-7-4 but still lead the division.

Boston 4, New Jersey 0--Goalie Andy Moog was sensational at Boston and Chris Nilan emerged from the doghouse to score twice as the Bruins cooled off the Devils.

Moog stopped 33 shots to earn his first shutout of the season and 14th of his career. The Devils had won five of their previous seven games.

Nilan didn’t score a goal and picked up 77 penalty minutes in the first seven games. After an argument with Coach Rick Bowness over a lack of playing time, Nilan was benched for the previous seven games.

“He did what a player is supposed to do,” Bowness said. “He proved to the coach that he deserved to play. You can either pout about it, or you can come back and show that the coach was wrong. He showed me he deserves to play.”

Hartford 4, St. Louis 3--Brett Hull has found his shooting touch, but the Blues can’t find the winning touch.

Hull had a hat trick at St. Louis, giving him 16 goals and five in the last two games, but the Blues lost their second in a row at home.

Mikael Andersson scored twice in a four-goal first period, and the Whalers weathered the storm of Hull’s blistering shots.

The Blues fell to 6-6-5. The Whalers are 7-5-2.

Pittsburgh 3, Minnesota 2--The Penguins are having trouble beating the other teams, but they still can handle the North Stars.

The Penguins, who beat Minnesota to win the Stanley Cup last spring, rallied for three goals in the final period to win at Bloomington, Minn.

The Penguins, who won the last three games of the playoffs, trounced Minnesota, 8-1, two weeks ago at Pittsburgh.

On Saturday, Jiri Hrdina scored the winning goal with 2:39 to play.

Before Hrdina scored, the luckless North Stars had two goals disallowed. Instant replay took a goal away from Mike Mordano. The other was not allowed because Brian Bellows was in the goalie’s crease when he scored at 6:30 of the final period.

Calgary 6, Toronto 1--The Flames, playing their fifth game on a long trip, figured to be tired, but the Maple Leafs wilted at Toronto.

Segei Makarov had two goals and goaltender Mike Vernon made 38 saves for the Flames.

It was a costly victory. Leading scorer Gary Roberts had to be taken off on a stretcher after being knocked into the boards. It appeared he hurt his back.

San Jose 4, New York Islanders 3--After losing 13 in a row, the Sharks have won two in a row at home. Bob McGill scored with 40 seconds left to break a 3-3 tie. The Sharks ended their losing streak Friday against Edmonton.