NHL ROUNDUP : Flames Strike Quickly to Down Canucks, 4-3

Joe Nieuwendyk and Theoren Fleury scored within a 46-second span of the second period, leading the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Calgary.

Nieuwendyk scored at 3:06 and Fleury scored moments later to increase Calgary’s lead to 3-0 and send the Flames to their fourth consecutive home victory.

The goal by Nieuwendyk came after Vancouver’s Petr Nedved, sent in on a breakaway by Jiri Slegr, failed to even get a shot on goal. As Calgary turned the play around, Nieuwendyk fed Craig Berube. That shot was stopped by goalie Kay Whitmore, but Nieuwendyk tapped in the rebound.

Fleury scored when he broke in off left wing and around Cliff Ronning before crashing into net. He and the puck slid into a fallen Whitmore--and into the net. After consultation with the video goal judge, referee Andy van Hellemond let the goal stand.

Gary Roberts and Frank Musil also scored for Calgary. The goal by Roberts extended his point streak to 10 games.

Quebec 4, Montreal 3--Joe Sakic scored a goal and set up two more, recording his 400th NHL point, as the Nordiques rallied at Montreal.

Sakic got his milestone point in his fifth NHL season with an assist on Martin Racinsky’s goal in the second period. Mats Sundin set a club record with the second assist. Sundin has points in 20 consecutive games.

Owen Nolan and Scott Young also scored for Quebec (11-5-4), which is undefeated in its last six games. The second-place Nordiques moved to within four points of Adams Division-leading Montreal.

Quebec played a solid, two-way game, helping Stephane Fiset to his first victory in five starts. Fiset learned in the afternoon that he would start after Ron Hextall asked out of the game because of an illness in his family.

Quebec outshot Montreal, 30-22, before 15,399 at the Colisee in the first meeting of the season between the provincial rivals.

Philadelphia 7, New York Rangers 3--Doug Evans scored two goals in the third period to lead the Flyers to their fifth consecutive victory. Philadelphia improved its home record to 6-2-1. New York has lost four in a row and is winless in its last five.

Mark Recchi extended his scoring streak to 13 games with his 13th goal on the first shot of the game, putting a wrist shot past Ranger goaltender Mike Richter. Recchi has 11 goals and 18 assists during his streak. Mark Messier had two goals for New York.

“I’d have to say it was probably our best game of the year,” said Bill Dineen, Flyer coach. “We rebounded well after they came back to 4-3.”

Boston 5, N.Y. Islanders 2--The Bruins scored three quick goals in the second period and held the Islanders to 23 shots in ending a two-game losing streak at Boston.

All the scoring--except for an empty-net goal with 24 seconds left--came in a 10-minute span of the second period in a game otherwise dominated by tight checking and little offense.

Winnipeg 5, Detroit 3--Rob Murray scored his first goal in three seasons to break a third-period tie and lead the Jets at Detroit.

Murray’s last goal came during the 1989-90 season when he was playing for Washington. Detroit’s three-game winning streak ended.

Minnesota 4, Tampa Bay 1--Goaltender Jon Casey came within 7:51 of his third shutout of the season as the North Stars won at Tampa, Fla.

Brian Bradley’s unassisted goal foiled Casey’s try for the 12th shutout of his career. Casey finished with 38 saves.

Mike Craig, Steve Duchesne, Bobby Smith and Neal Broten scored for the North Stars (10-8-2).

Hartford 4, Ottawa 2--The struggling Senators remained winless for the 19th consecutive game, losing to the Whalers as Terry Yake and Pat Verbeek scored in the final 1:23 at Ottawa.

Robert Petrovicky and Murray Craven also scored for the Whalers, who won for the second night in a row after enduring a nine-game winless slump.

Toronto 2, San Jose 0--Dimitri Mironov had a goal and an assist, and Grant Fuhr logged his first shutout of the season as the Maple Leafs won at Daly City, Calif.

Toronto won for the first time in three games, outshooting San Jose, 49-23. The Sharks lost for the sixth time in seven games.