NHL ROUNDUP : Canucks Continue to Show They Are for Real

It was only a tie, but it was further proof that the Vancouver Canucks are a legitimate leader in the Smythe Division.

The Canucks, who barely earned a playoff spot last season, outskated and outshot the Flames Thursday night at Calgary but settled for a 2-2 tie.

The tie gave the Canucks a 13-4-3 record, second best in the NHL. They are 4-0-2 in their last six games.

Only Montreal, which has played one more game, has more points than the Canucks, 30-29.

Although they outshot the home team, 34-29, the Canucks, after taking a 2-1 lead on Pavel Bure’s goal at 6:40 of the first period, did not score again.

Gary Roberts scored his 13th goal at 11:55 of the second period to get the Flames the tie.

New York Islanders 4, New Jersey 3--When Derek King scored on a breakaway with 2:32 left at East Rutherford, N.J., it gave the Islanders one of their more satisfying victories in several seasons.

The victory, which ended a three-game losing streak and a seven-game winless (0-6-1) string, came at the expense of the team with the best home record in the NHL. The Devils had won seven out of eight at home.

New York had built a 3-1 lead in the first period, but the Devils whittled away and caught up on Peter Stastny’s 10th goal with seven minutes left in regulation.

Boston 5, Quebec 2--The Nordiques managed to end goaltender Andy Moog’s shutout streak, but they couldn’t halt their losing streak on the road, which reached eight games.

Moog extended his scoreless string to six seconds less than 140 minutes before Steve Finn scored at 11:48 of the third period.

The Bruins had built a 3-0 lead before Finn scored, and Bob Carpenter, with his second goal, quickly negated Finn’s score.

Hartford 2, Montreal 2--The Canadiens scored the first and last goals of the game, both on power plays at Hartford, but in between, the Whalers dominated.

Kirk Muller, who scored the first goal for the Canadiens, assisted on the tying score. J.J. Daigneault tied the game with 9:07 remaining in regulation.

The Canadiens forced the action the rest of the way and had four shots in overtime, but they couldn’t break the tie.

Philadelphia 3, Edmonton 1--Mike Ricci set up two goals at Philadelphia and the Flyers beat the Oilers.

Kevin Dineen, obtained from Hartford in a trade Wednesday, scored an empty net goal in his debut for the Flyers.

The Flyers, the worst power-play team in the league, were 0-for-5 with a man advantage.

Chicago 3, Toronto 0--Ed Belfour, back in the form that made him the best goalie in the league last season, stopped 20 shots at Chicago for his second consecutive shutout.

St. Louis 2, Winnipeg 1--Lee Norwood, picked up from Hartford, made an auspicious debut at St. Louis.

Norwood scored his first goal of the season at 2:31 of overtime to give the Blues the victory.

Detroit 3, San Jose 3--Goals by Jimmy Carson in the second period and Kevin Miller and Gerard Gallant in the third enabled the visiting Red Wings to overcome a 3-0 deficit.