NHL ROUNDUP : Neely’s Return Leads Bruins to Victory, 3-1

Cam Neely has trouble just getting onto the ice.

But when he does, it’s usually the other team that has the trouble.

That was the case again Tuesday night in Providence, R.I., in a neutral-site game.

Neely, sidelined the previous five games with a knee injury, scored on a power play and assisted on the go-ahead goal as the Boston Bruins beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-1.

Neely had scored more than 50 goals in each of the previous two seasons, then missed 93 regular-season games after Jan. 23, 1992, because of a knee problem.

He returned Feb. 25 and scored three goals, all on power plays, in a four-game span before the injury flared up again.

Goalie John Blue stopped 33 shots, including several breakaways, to help Boston win its fourth in a row.

New Jersey ended its trip 0-4 despite holding the Bruins to 19 shots.

Hartford 4, Tampa Bay 3--Murray Craven scored two goals, including the game-winner at 1:03 of overtime at Tampa.

Brian Bradley of the Lightning had tied the score with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. The goal was Bradley’s 39th, the most by a player on a first-year expansion team.

The Whalers are 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Hartford goalie Mario Gosselin (1-1-1), recalled from Springfield of the AHL on March 4, made 42 saves to earn the victory in only his second start since 1990.

Philadelphia 4, Minnesota 3--Rookie Al Conroy’s first NHL goal was the deciding one at Philadelphia.

Conroy, who joined the Flyers from their Hershey farm team on March 2, fired a rebound off the stick of Viacheslav Butsayev and past goaltender Darcy Wakaluk at 4:47 of the third period.

The loss was Minnesota’s third in a row and eighth in its last dozen games.

The North Stars tied the score, 3-3, with two goals 96 seconds apart late in the second period.

Ulf Dahlen took a pass in the front of the goal from Mike Modano and dumped a shot over the stick side of goalie Tommy Soderstrom at 15:24.

Modano then assisted on the tying goal when he found Dave Gagner, who dribbled a shot in the slot between Soderstrom’s legs at 17:10.

Eric Lindros and Rod Brind’Amour scored second-period goals 34 seconds apart that gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead.

Lindros notched his 30th when he deflected his own blocked shot off defenseman Brad Berry past Wakaluk at 9:41 of the second period.

With the goal, Lindros became the fifth Flyers rookie to record 30 goals in one season.

Washington 4, Detroit 2--Defenseman Kevin Hatcher scored the go-ahead goal in the third period in a neutral-site game played at Milwaukee.

Hatcher’s 27th goal broke a 2-2 tie at 8:13 of the third period.

But Hatcher’s goal might not have mattered were it not for Dale Hunter.

“The difference in the game is sometimes taking advantage on the power play,” Washington Coach Terry Murray said. “We ended up getting two big goals that you might say were ugly.”

Both were scored on power plays by Hunter.

“It’s never ugly when it goes in the net,” Murray added. “It was a tip, a screen and that’s it.”

Hunter tipped in his 15th goal of the season with 63 seconds gone and then deflected another past goalie Tim Cheveldae (26-24-7) for his 16th at the 5:46 mark.

Calle Johansson set up both goals with shots from just inside the blue line that Hunter steered into the net.

Chicago 1, Calgary 0--Goalie Ed Belfour stopped 29 shots for his league-leading sixth shutout and Jeremy Roenick scored the game’s only goal at Calgary.

The loss snapped the Flames’ nine-game home unbeaten streak.

N.Y. Islanders 6, San Jose 0--Scott Lachance scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Islanders at Daly City. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for New York, while extending the Sharks’ losing streak to four.

Buffalo 2, St. Louis 2--Bill Houlder’s goal at 7:46 of the third period enabled the Sabres to tie at St. Louis.

Houlder’s goal was his second in four games since being called up March 8 from San Diego.

Alexander Mogilny scored his NHL-leading 69th goal in the second period for Buffalo.

Brendan Shanahan scored his 42nd goal and set up Brett Hull’s 49th for the Blues, who are unbeaten (3-0-1) in their last four games and 5-0-1 in their last six at home.

The game featured sharp goaltending by both St. Louis’ Curtis Joseph and Buffalo’s Grant Fuhr. Joseph is unbeaten in his last four games and and 7-1-1 in his last nine.