NHL ROUNDUP : Penguins Start Fast in 4-1 Win

The Pittsburgh Penguins scored three times in the first period and got strong goaltending from Tom Barrasso before their club-record scoreless streak ended in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday at Pittsburgh.

The game was marred by a brawl that left three Penguins and one Blackhawk ejected and prematurely halted the first period with 51 seconds remaining.

The Penguins were 0-3-1 in their last four regular-season home games against the Blackhawks and 1-7-1 in their previous nine against the team they swept in the Stanley Cup finals last season.

“The first period was one of the best we’ve played in a long time,” Pittsburgh’s Rick Tocchet said. “That was one of our best periods of the year. We played great hockey.”

Tocchet had two assists and Kevin Stevens, Larry Murphy and Bob Errey scored goals as Pittsburgh took a command in the first period.

New York Islanders 5, New York Rangers 2--Mark Fitzpatrick made 31 saves as the Islanders continued their home-ice domination of the Rangers at Uniondale, N.Y.

Steve Thomas and Derek King each had a goal and an assist as the Islanders gained a split of their home-and-home series with the Rangers, who won, 4-3, Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Fitzpatrick denied the Rangers until James Patrick and Adam Graves scored in the third period.

Toronto 6, Minnesota 1--Doug Gilmour, who has 21 goals and 84 points, had a hand in every Maple Leaf goal to tie a club record at Toronto.

Gilmour, Dave Andreychuk, with two, Mike Foligno, Glenn Anderson, John Cullen and Dave Ellett scored Toronto’s goals. Mike McPhee was the only North Star to score on rookie goaltender Felix Potvin.

Montreal 4, Ottawa 1--Brian Bellows had a goal and an assist and goaltender Patrick Roy picked up his 23rd victory of the season at Ottawa.

Montreal, which has allowed one goal in its last 125 minutes, also received goals from Kevin Haller, John LeClair and Ed Ronan. Bob Kudelski scored for Ottawa, which lost its first game in five home dates to slip to 7-48-4.

New Jersey 6, Philadelphia 4--Bruce Driver and Bernie Nicholls scored first-period power-play goals, lifting the Devils over the Flyers at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory was only the third in 11 games for New Jersey, and the loss continued the Flyers’ problems of winning on the road against Patrick Division opponents. The Flyers are 0-9-2 in their last 11 Patrick Division road games.

Calgary 4, Hartford 3--Gary Roberts extended his goal-scoring streak to seven games with a goal at 3:29 of overtime, leading the Flames at Calgary.

Roberts’s 36th goal of the season came when he picked up a puck in front of Hartford goaltender Sean Burke, who failed to cover up on a backhand shot from Joe Nieuwendyk off the boards.

Gary Suter, Robert Reichel and Brian Skrudland also scored for the Flames, who are 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Murray Craven, Andrew Cassels and Geoff Sanderson scored for the Whalers.

St. Louis 4, Detroit 3--Brett Hull scored his 39th goal with 1:12 left in regulation, lifting the Blues past the Red Wings at St. Louis.

The game-winning goal was the first of the season for Hull, and broke the Blues’ two-game losing streak. Dino Ciccarelli had tied the game for Detroit with a power-play goal at 11:38 of the third period.