NHL ROUNDUP : Canucks Find Rhythm Against Blues

Last season’s Stanley Cup surprise team finally got its first victory.

“We did what we had to do and that was get to the finals last year,” Vancouver’s Cliff Ronning said after the Canucks rode the goaltending of Kirk McLean to a 3-1 victory over the Blues Saturday night at St. Louis. “We’ve got to snap out of that syndrome quick and get back playing like we can.”

Ronning, Mike Peca and Pavel Bure scored for Vancouver, which had been outscored, 20-7, while starting the season 0-3-1.

McLean seldom saw a second shot and many of the chances were low percentage. But he also rose to the occasion to stop Brett Hull on a shorthanded breakaway at 12:35 of the second period and fought off a flurry in the closing minutes.

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Quebec 2, New York 0--Goaltender Stephane Fiset made 29 saves for his fourth career shutout as the Nordiques, behind goals by Andrei Kovalenko and Bob Bassen, beat the struggling Rangers in Quebec for their fourth consecutive victory.

The defending Stanley Cup-champion Rangers fell to 1-4. They have also struggled offensively, scoring only nine goals in the five games while yielding only 11.

Ottawa 2, Buffalo 2--Don Beaupre stopped Dale Hawerchuk on a clean scoring chance and then Alexander Mogilny on the rebound in the last 20 seconds of regulation to preserve a 2-2 tie for the Senators at Ottawa.

Detroit 5, Edmonton 2--Ray Sheppard and Sergei Fedorov scored power-play goals in the first 3:07, and Steve Yzerman scored twice as the Red Wings beat the Oilers at Detroit.

Detroit’s 4-1 start is its best since 1974-75.

Toronto 2, Calgary 1--Felix Potvin stopped 32 shots as the Maple Leafs beat the Flames on goals by Dave Andreychuk and Mats Sundin at Toronto.

Phil Housley scored for Calgary.

In a brutal third-period incident, Toronto defenseman Todd Gill cleanly checked Joel Otto, who responded by raising his stick and striking Gill atop the helmet. Gill, enraged, went after Otto and the two battled. Gill, deemed the instigator of the fight, got the lone game misconduct.

Florida 2, Hartford 1--The Panthers got power-play goals from defenseman Brian Benning and wing Dave Lowry to win at Hartford, Conn. Goalie Mark Fitzpatrick needed to stop only 13 shots.

Philadelphia 2, Boston 1--Dominic Roussel took a shutout into the game’s final minute as the Flyers hung on for their second consecutive victory at Philadelphia.

Roussel lost the shutout with 45.4 seconds left when Cam Neely scored. First-period goals by Brent Fedyk and Mark Recchi stood up for the Flyers.

Tampa Bay 4, New York Islanders 1--Petr Klima scored twice, and Darren Puppa stopped 23 shots as the Lightning defeated the Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.

San Jose 3, Dallas 2--Pat Falloon scored with 1:38 left and the Sharks survived a last-minute flurry of Stars’ shots at San Jose for their third consecutive victory.

Montreal 5, New Jersey 1--Jean-Jacques Daigneault and Benoit Brunet scored in the second period as the Canadiens prolonged the Devils’ early season slump at Montreal.