NHL ROUNDUP : North Stars Lead Norris Division

Ulf Dahlen had a goal and an assist Tuesday night as the Minnesota North Stars defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-1, at Ottawa and moved into first place in the Norris Division.

The victory, which was the North Stars’ fifth in a row on the road, moved Minnesota past Detroit into the top spot and tied them with Quebec for fourth overall in the NHL standings.

Dave Gagner and Todd Elik also scored for the North Stars, who are unbeaten in four games and have a 6-1-1 record in their last eight. Minnesota (8-5 on the road) has won five consecutive road games for only the third time in franchise history.

Tomas Jelinek scored for the Senators, who lost their third in a row since ending a 21-game winless streak last week. The Senators are last in the league with a 2-23-1 record.

Pittsburgh 7, N.Y. Islanders 3--Rick Tocchet scored twice, and Tom Barrasso stopped 23 shots as the Penguins beat the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. for the fifth time in a row.

The Penguins improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games against the Islanders, including 3-0 this season. The Penguins earned their league-leading eighth road victory and regained the lead in the overall standings with 39 points.

The Penguins scored on their first two shots at Glenn Healy to take the early lead.

Mario Lemieux scored his league-leading 30th goal for the Penguins.

New Jersey 8, Toronto 3--Stephane Richer had two goals and two assists to lead the Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

Richer, who has five goals in his last three games, combined with linemates Claude Lemieux and Peter Stastny for eight points as the Devils produced their highest goal total of the season. Richer was instrumental in the Devils’ five-goal first period, their best of the season.

The Maple Leafs entered the game with the best team defense in the NHL, allowing an average of 2.88 goals per game. The eight goals-against is a season high for the Maple Leafs.

St. Louis 8, Hartford 4--Craig Janney continued his torrid pace with four assists and Kevin Miller had three goals to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

Janney has 12 assists in the last five games and is among the league leaders with 29 assists. Miller scored two of his goals in the final two minutes. Brendan Shanahan also had two goals for the Blues.

The Blues are unbeaten (7-0-2) in their last nine home games. But they are 1-8-1 overall on the road. The victory lifted them out of last place in the Norris Division into a tie with fifth-place Tampa Bay.

Edmonton 3, San Jose 1--Scott Mellanby and Dave Manson scored third-period goals to lead the Oilers at San Jose.

Craig Simpson also scored a goal for the Oilers.

Ray Whitney scored a goal for the Sharks.