NHL ROUNDUP : Lemieux Leads Inspired Penguins Past Devils, 8-4

A 10-minute candlelight ceremony that paid tribute to Coach Bob Johnson, who died of brain cancer Tuesday, inspired the Penguins Wednesday night at Pittsburgh.

Mario Lemieux led the Penguins to an 8-4 rout of the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night in probably their best effort since they won the Stanley Cup last spring.

Lemieux, who had not scored in four games, put the game out of reach with a short-handed goal with five minutes left that made the score 7-4. The big center had been stopped on 23 consecutive shots before he flipped a backhander past goalie Chris Terreri.

“It’s tough to start a game with tears in your eyes,” said goaltender Tom Barrasso, who stopped 39 shots.

Their first victory over a team with a winning record gave the Penguins an 11-8-4 record, only fourth best in the tough Patrick Division.

It was the 14th goal for Lemieux, who was shut out in three of the last four games. He also had two assists.

Washington 3, Montreal 1--In the battle between two division leaders at Landover, Md., the Capitals took the lead on a controversial second-period goal and were helped by the goaltending of Don Beaupre.

It took instant replay to confirm the goal that gave Washington a 2-1 lead seven minutes into the period. Al Iafrate’s shot from close range bounced off goaltender Patrick Roy. Iafrate crashed into Roy as Kelly Miller got in the rebound. The replay showed it was a legal play.

It was the second time that the Capitals, who lead the Patrick Division by seven points, have beaten the Canadiens this season. Montreal leads the Adams Division by 13 points. Both teams have 36 points.

Hartford 7, Philadelphia 3--Andrew Cassels scored his first two goals of the season and Pat Verbeek also scored twice at Philadelphia to lead the Whalers. The slumping Flyers, who lost all three games to the Whalers last season, are winless in the last four games (0-3-1).

Winnipeg 3, New York Rangers 2--Troy Murray knocked in a rebound early in the third period at Winnipeg to climax a remarkable comeback.

The Rangers, with Mark Messier playing sensationally, dominated the first half of the game. Messier set up both goals and the Rangers led, 2-0.

The Jets rallied in the second period as Phil Housley and Ed Olczyk scored 44 seconds apart.

The Jets moved ahead of the Kings into second place in the Smythe Division.

Boston 3, New York Islanders 2--Steve Leach’s second goal of the game broke a second-period tie at Uniondale, N.Y., and led the Bruins to victory.

Leach’s 12th goal banked in off goaltender Steve Weeks’ skate to break the 2-2 tie.

Quebec 4, Buffalo 4--The Nordiques don’t win often on the road, and they barely missed at Buffalo.

After falling behind, 3-1, they scored three goals to take the lead. But with less than five minutes to play, Greg Paslawski scored Buffalo’s third goal of the period to get the Sabres’ even.

Edmonton 6, Chicago 2-- Vincent Damphousse scored twice at Edmonton as the Oilers jumped in front, 3-0, and never let the Blackhawks get back into the game.

It was only the eighth win in 24 games for the Oilers.