NHL ROUNDUP : Canadiens Slip at Home, 6-5

Peter Nedved scored two goals as the Vancouver Canucks handed Montreal a rare home defeat with a 6-5 victory over the Canadiens on Saturday night.

Nedved’s second goal of the game and 14th of the season 2:53 into the third period was the game-winner in a shootout between two of the league’s toughest defenses.

Sergio Momesso, Gerald Diduck, Greg Adams and Pavel Bure also scored for the Canucks, who showed little fatigue in their third road game in four nights.

Vancouver improved to 14-9-2 and became the first team from the Campbell Conference to defeat Montreal in nine games this season. It was only the second loss in 14 home games for the Canadiens, who have the NHL’s second-best record at 16-6-3.

Matt Schneider, Mike Keane, Kirk Muller, Ed Ronan and Eric Desjardins scored for Montreal, first in the Adams Division.

Desjardins scored a power-play goal 13:10 into the third period to cut the deficit to one, but the Canadiens were unable to tie.

Montreal outshot the Canucks, 44-37, before 17,639.

Chicago 5, Calgary 2--Steve Larmer scored three goals to lead the Blackhawks at Calgary. The goals brought the right wing’s total goals in the last two games to five, and his point total to nine. He had six points Friday night in the Flames’ 8-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

The three-goal performance was Larmer’s first of the season and eighth of his career.

Jeremy Roenick and Christian Ruuttu also scored for Chicago, which concluded a two-week, six-game trip with a 3-3-0 record.

Paul Ranheim and Theoren Fleury scored for Calgary, which lost its third loss in the last four home games.

Pittsburgh 5, Washington 3--Mario Lemieux and Shawn McEachern scored 59 seconds apart in a three-goal second period that carried the Penguins at Pittsburgh.

The Penguins successfully ended a six-game stretch against Patrick Division teams with a 4-2 record. They had home-and-home series against the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Capitals in nine days.

“We wanted to come out of it .500 or better,” center Ron Francis said. “We were better so we’re pleased about that.”

Lemieux, the NHL scoring leader, scored his second goal and 29th of the season into the empty net with 10 seconds left to seal the victory. Tom Barrasso made 36 saves to raise his NHL-best record to 15-4-2.

Edmonton 4, Tampa Bay 3--Craig Simpson scored his second goal at 3:45 of overtime to give the struggling Oilers a victory at Edmonton. Simpson swept the puck underneath Lightning goalie Wendell Young as he fell to the ice for his 13th goal of the season. He was set up by Oiler left wing Shayne Corson, who sent a pinpoint pass at Tampa Bay’s blue line.

Chris Kontos showed why he has 20 goals this season with a score to the top corner of the net from about 20 feet out on a Tampa Bay power play.

Minnesota 10, San Jose 3--Gaetan Duchesne and Neal Broten each had two goals and two assists to spark the North Stars to a slump-breaking victory at Bloomington, Minn. Duchesne, who has not scored more than 12 goals in any of the last four seasons, got his ninth and 10th for the North Stars, who were 1-3-2 in their previous six home games.

Mike Craig also scored twice, Todd Elik had a goal and three assists, and Russ Courtnall had three assists for Minnesota, which doubled its previous best output of the season.

New York Islanders 9, Philadelphia 3--Pierre Turgeon scored two power-play goals and a three-goal second-period outburst that carried the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.

The victory, giving the Islanders a 2-1-2 record over the last five games, salvaged a split in their home-and-home series. The Flyers won, 6-3, on Friday in Philadelphia.

Hartford 4, Boston 3--Murray Craven’s goal at Hartford ended the Bruins’ overtime mastery over the Whalers. The Whalers had been 0-4-1 in overtime against Boston the past two seasons and had not won an overtime game at home in four years.

“They always seem to find a way to come out on top in overtime or in the last minute,” said Geoff Sanderson, who had his first hat trick. “They’ve had our number. It’s a really big win.”

New Jersey 6, Quebec 3--Claude Lemieux scored twice and assisted on two goals by Stephane Richer at Quebec as the Devils ended a three-game losing streak. Lemieux got an assist when Richer scored a first-period goal that tied the score, 1-1. He then set up Richer’s eighth goal of the season, which tied the score, 2-2, in the second period.

“I’ve got eight goals this year and they are all on the road,” Richer said. “I hope I can start scoring a few when we get back home.”

St. Louis 2, Detroit 2--Kevin Miller’s shorthanded goal with 12:29 left lifted the Blues to a tie at St. Louis.

The Blues lost Brett Hull on a game misconduct penalty with 4:16 remaining in the second period. Hull has scored five times in the Blues’ last five games.